Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal

The Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal features a heavy facade of twin towers that loom over Place d Armes. When the architect James O Donnell began work in eighteen twenty-four, he intended to create a structure that rivaled the great churches of Europe. O Donnell was not a Catholic, but he converted to the faith on his deathbed so he could be buried in the crypt he designed. His grave remains there today, hidden beneath the altar of the building he spent his life constructing.