The Church

The village’s church is the oldest one in Abitibi-Temiscamingue (1902).

In early March 1901, twelve pioneers from St-Bruno-de-Guigues set out for the Ontario side of Lake Temiskaming to cut pine logs for the construction of their future church. With Father Moïse Desjardins leading them, all the men from the parish and the village proceed to bring down the wood from Ville-Marie and start the construction of the church.

With its oval windows, the style of the church reflects the way the Oblats used to build them as far back as the Middle Ages and also the more traditional Quebec style. Since fire destroyed the Ville-Marie church in 1957, the church in Guigues and the First Nation chapel at Hunter’s Point (1901) are the only ones that testify of the Oblats style of architecture.

Also, it must be stated that this church has a famous organ built by Casavant.

The Sundial

Located across the road from the Breen residence, the St-Bruno-de-Guigues sundial is a conception of Mr. André Beaulieu, a former sailor and dial maker from the Montreal area. While building the sundial, he draws inspiration from one of our cultural heritage assets, the nearby silver mine. The mine was discovered during the passage of the Chevalier de Troyes in 1686. It was exploited from 1877 to 1952, but really only produced for about 15 years.

All the components of the sundial are inspired by the mining world. The sundial is a horizontal clock made entirely of aluminium. In order to build a sundial, one must consider the exact geographic location of the site. With a special compass and the location of the polar star, the sundial maker determines the longitude, latitude and magnetic declination. This data is required to orient the sundial in the correct direction during its installation. Interestingly, Mr. Beaulieu built it to Eastern Daylight Saving Time since the summer season welcomes the greatest number of visitors. And of course, we need some sun to get it to work properly!