History of the Church
In 1978, both the National Capital Commission and the City of Ottawa officially recognized the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica of Ottawa as an historic monument. The cathedral is indeed the oldest surviving church in Ottawa. It stands on the site that was occupied by the first Catholic chapel open to both anglophones and francophones of Bytown. 

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Interior Architecture
Today the spaciousness, majesty, and sacred character of the interior of this cathedral strike the visitor just as they did a hundred years ago. In the reigning dimness, one soon makes out the long, narrow, and high central nave, with its line of imposing Gothic arches running from the entrance all the way to the main altar. On each side, bundles of slender columns divide the nave from the aisles. Supported by these columns and covering the side aisles are terraced galleries that look out into the nave and help to define its vastness. Above these large arches runs a blind arcade, with three arches per span, which accentuates the rhythm of the nave. Over each segment stands a high window. In the sanctuary, the large arches progressively open up to a view of the windows set in behind them, the blind arcades display their theatrical decor and the high windows look like beams of light beneath the imposing sculpted flowerlet that terminates the lierne and unites the ribbing of the apse in a crown above the main altar.

The Sanctuary
The most surprising and fascinating aspect of this sanctuary is the richness of its Gothic ornamentation and the originality of its iconographic programme. It is in studying the decoration and especially the sculptures of the sanctuary that the spirit of Canon Bouillon's utmost creativity becomes evident. Strongly inspired by a long medieval tradition and influenced by the neo-Gothic movement, this iconography is at once complex yet coherent, traditional yet innovative, symbolic yet largely accessible. Although it has a traditional air, it bears the markings of its nineteenth century central-Canadian roots. The sanctuary of Notre Dame of Ottawa permits us to enter into the circle of a great assembly: patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and saints gathered around Christ, amidst the angels, in the glory of the heavenly Jerusalem. But surprisingly, in different niches of honour, we recognize Saint Joseph, patron saint of Canada, as well as Saint John the Baptist, and St. Patrick, patron saints of the Archdiocese of Ottawa.

The Lateral altars
At the entry to the sanctuary, in the two lateral rows joining the nave's side aisles, have been erected secondary altars of sculpted wood, covered with gold leaf and decorated with precious stones; they are rather like the shutters of a giant triptych of azure and gold. The altar located on the left side of the sanctuary was built in 1879 and dedicated to the Sacred Heart. The other one, on the right-hand side, dates from 1885 and is consecrated to the Virgin Mary; it is the most splendid of this church's three altars, and Canon Bouillon's final realization in the cathedral.

The Stained-Glass Windows
The first series of stained-glass windows installed in the cathedral dates 1879. Made by the English glassworker Hardwood, these windows consist of geometrical motifs painted in grisaille and embellished by light touches of vivid colours. Most of them were replaced between 1956 and 1961 by a series of 17 historiated windows, made by the artist Guido Nincheri of Montreal, telling of the mysteries of Christ's life and that of the Virgin Mary. Of particular prominence is the large window located just above the cathedral's main entrance. The tall figures painted in the center of this window represent, from the left to right: St. Patrick, St. Paul, the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. Peter, and St. John the Baptist.