Évêques-de-Trois-Rivières Mausoleum

The Evêques-de-Trois-Rivières mausoleum is located in the center of the Saint-Michel cemetery in Trois-Rivières.^[1] Its installation here is no accident, for the 1962 cemetery plans by landscape architects Benoît Bégin and Georges Daudelin foresaw a chapel in this location. It is set in a large open space offering multiple views of the mausoleum across the cemetery. The main view remains the main axis of the cemetery from the entrance. Architect Jean-Claude Leclerc exploited this perspective by creating a gap in the monument, allowing the cemetery's calvary to be seen from the entrance.^[2]

However, the mausoleum is barely visible from outside the cemetery and is not a landmark in the town.^[2]

The Trois-Rivières diocese was created in 1852, from a detachment of the Archdiocese of Quebec. It was separated at the same time as the diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe, in order to bring diocesans closer to Church administration. Assumption Cathedral was built between 1854 and 1858. The spire was added in 1882 and raised in 1904. The interior decoration was completed in 1895. In 1964, a major renovation program was carried out on the cathedral, overseen by architect Jean-Louis Caron. The wooden floor was replaced by a concrete one, and it was decided to build two community rooms in the basement.^[3]

The land of the Saint-Michel cemetery was purchased in 1923 by the parish of Immaculée-Conception. At the time, it was located on Chemin de Forges, on the northern edge of town. It was four times larger than the cemetery it replaced, Saint-Louis Cemetery. Construction began in 1923, but was soon abandoned for lack of funds. However, the first bodies were interred in 1927. Work resumed in 1931, and the cemetery was officially inaugurated the following year. In 1962, it was decided to substantially redevelop the cemetery. The entrance was moved back from Boulevard des Forges, and plans were made to build a funeral chapel in the center of the cemetery. In 1968, a calvary with four bronze figures was added to the central axis of the cemetery.^[4]

During the cathedral's renovation campaign, the question arose of where to bury the bodies currently in the crypt. Two choices were presented: either to build a new crypt in the basement, as had been done for the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica in Quebec City, or to build a mausoleum in a new location. The second choice was quickly imposed by the desire to reclaim the cathedral's entire basement. As the redevelopment of the Saint-Michel cemetery called for the construction of a funeral chapel in its center, it was decided to include the mausoleum in the project.^[4]

In 1964, the bishop's administration, under the supervision of Most Rev. Georges-Léon Pelletier, commissioned the first designs from architects Jean-Claude Leclerc and Roger Villemure. Although the latter had been in initial contact with the bishopric, it was his partner Leclerc who took charge of the project with his assistant, designer Victor Pinheiro. It was Pinheiro who drew up the first draft of the project, with two concrete walls. When the project was presented to the diocese, the concept of the voiles was maintained, but it was decided to give two distinct forms to the mausoleum and the chapel. The chapel would illustrate an impetus towards the sky, while the mausoleum would be a massive volume anchored to the ground. Leclerc describes it as follows:^[5]

"[...] it will not be an ordinary building, but rather a central monument usable for three main purposes: bishops' tombs, interior and exterior religious ceremonies, and one of the stations of the Cross, all of which should be the center of gravity and set the tone and development of the heart of the cemetery."^[5]

Plans for the mausoleum became more precise in early 1965, and specifications were drawn up in September 1965. General contractor Henri Saint-Amant won the contract for $76,000. The cost of the work included subcontracting Canada Gunite Co. Ltd for the construction of the concrete walls. The architects and probably the engineers offered their services without remuneration, a customary practice at the time for a project involving a diocese or factory. The reinforced concrete foundation was poured between October and November 1965, and work was halted for the winter. In March of the following year, work resumed with the installation of the concrete walls, and finishing work took place the following summer.^[5]

In June and July 1966, the bodies were exhumed from the cathedral crypt. While the identification of the bishops' graves was easy, the other bodies were more difficult to identify. In the end, only five out of the 45 bodies buried since 1850 could be identified.^[5] The bodies were moved and buried in the late summer of 1966. The bodies of the four bishops were placed in the funerary monument and the other remains in the surrounding area. The mausoleum was inaugurated that summer by Most Rev. Georges-Léon Pelletier.^[6]

The building was designated a heritage building by the City of Trois-Rivières on September 17, 2007. Jean-Claude Leclerc and Paul Guay, abbot of the Évêché de Trois-Rivières, were interviewed the same year to establish a heritage evaluation file.^[7][8] Two years later, on September 17, 2009, the Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine classified the mausoleum as a heritage building.^[9] It is one of three modern buildings to have been classified or cited during its designer's lifetime, along with the Maison Ernest-Cormier and Habitat 67.^[8]

The mausoleum is built entirely out of reinforced concrete. The roof is composed of a thin veil of reinforced concrete.^[1] Its dimensions are 27.43 m long by 15.24 m wide, and 16.76 m high. The building consists of two parts: a 60-seat funeral chapel and a mausoleum containing ten tombs, five of which are occupied.^[10]

The shape of the chapel is reminiscent of a skyward-facing sail. The nave faces the altar. The benches are made of wood and concrete and are set slightly below ground level. It has a small, rounded sacristy with a vertically striated concrete surface, a common technique in Brutalist architecture of the period. It also features a gargoyle. The gargoyle also supports the roof. The west and north sides are open to allow the chapel to receive more people, while the east side has only a small opening. The roof is made of a thin, rounded veil. A skylight installed at a 45° angle allows light to enter the chapel through the roof.^[11]

The mausoleum, on the other hand, is considerably more spacious. It has two entrances, allowing a continuous flow of visitors during ceremonies. The gravestones are made of grey granite and are slightly inclined. They are lit by horizontal skylights at the top, which are fitted with randomly-arranged iron bars. An inscription, "Let eternal light shine on them", is placed just above the window wells. The roof, which is set much lower than the one on the chapel, is composed of two thin hyperbolic paraboloid sails supported by a central beam and the walls. Two gargoyles on each side of the monument keep rainwater away from the structure.^[11]

Throughout the monument, concrete stripping marks are visible, sometimes painted, and sometimes left bare. The main walls are marked by conventional formwork lines, while the roof retains traces of the wooden planks used in the blown-cement construction method. The outer roof surface is coated with waterproofing membranes.^[12]

A central beam is located in the middle of the monument between the chapel and the mausoleum. This beam, a cantilevered horizontal plane with no visible support, gives the impression of floating in mid-air. And the covered passageway it protects provides a visual breakthrough to the cemetery's calvary from the main entrance.^[13]

The entire structure is imbued with symbolism and plays an important role in the architectural aspect of the monument. The chapel rises skyward, bathed in light. Its shape and numerous openings also evoke lightness. As for the mausoleum, its low volume and thick walls evoke massiveness. Its few openings create a penumbra atmosphere that evokes a sense of mournful reverence. The dichotomy of the whole (lightness and massiveness, light and shadow, openness and closure, momentum and restraint) evokes the metaphor of mind and body, and perfectly reflects the dual Christian symbolism of the soul's ascent after death and the body's entombment.^[13]

Jean-Claude Leclerc's career as an architect only lasted from 1960 to 1972, but was nonetheless punctuated by several important works. He is generally regarded as the architect who introduced modernism to Trois-Rivières. With the exception of a few buildings, most of Jean-Claude Leclerc's work is located in the immediate Trois-Rivières area.^[14]

The mausoleum has a special place in Leclerc's career. It is one of his most significant works, along with the Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire church in Fatima and the Trois-Rivières city hall. Although less imposing than his other two works, it fits nicely into Leclerc's Corbusian period, which began after he visited some of Le Corbusier's works and took part in André Wogenscky's studio. In the mausoleum, he incorporates a number of formal references from the Notre-Dame-du-Haut chapel and the Sainte-Marie de La Tourette convent, such as the massive walls, concrete sails, gargoyles, and other details.^[15]

The monument did not enjoy great critical acclaim. Books on the architecture of the period, Architectures du xx^e siècle au Québec by Claude Bergeron and Architecture contemporaine du Québec 1960-1970 by Laurent Lamy, make no mention of it. The review of this work comes from a Docomomo Québec newsletter published in 1994 and written by architect Daniel Durand. Durand discusses Trois-Rivières' major architectural works of the 1960s. He writes of the mausoleum: "the general form is not as finished as one might expect, given that it was designed by Leclerc and Pinheiro". He doesn't seem to have done much research, as he dates the construction to 1970.^[16]