Historic basilica maintains ties with Quebec stone supplier
The history of this holy shrine dates back over 350 years to 1652, when three sailors traveling the St. Lawrence River shipwrecked just off the coast of Cap Tourmente, a stormy passage east of Quebec City. Stranded with no help in sight, they spent the next 24 hours on top of their capsized vessel. Sometime in the night, the three made a pact that if they were fortunate enough to survive, they would erect a chapel right on the very sight.
However, the struggle for control of the St. Lawrence Seaway between the English, French and Americans brought devastation and fire to the shores of Quebec, destroying the chapel dedicated to Saint Anne on three different occasions. In 1911, Amede Bussiere and his son Ronald, well-known granite fabricators from nearby Saint Henry, were summoned by the parish priest to begin building the exterior walls of a new basilica.