Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel

Montreal, Old Montreal. Marguerite Bourgeoys, founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame, helped organise the first chapel here in 1655; the present one dates from 1771, after a fire destroyed its stone predecessor. It is where to understand Montreal's founding women, and the Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum inside tells her story directly. Her remains have lain in the sanctuary since 2005. Two more layers make it worth the time. The crypt is an archaeological site with First Nations and French colonial finds, and the chapel's nickname, the Sailors' Church, comes from the nineteenth-century mariners who made offerings here for safe voyages. You can climb the tower for a view over the Old Port and the St Lawrence.