St Patrick's Basilica is a Roman Catholic Church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Located at 281 Nepean Street (at the corner of Nepean and Kent) in Downtown Ottawa, it is the oldest church in the city that serves the English-speaking community. The Basilica is one of the regular buildings featured in the Doors Open Ottawa architectural heritage day. History The parish was founded in 1855. Originally, it was intended to serve not only the English-speaking Catholics of Ottawa, but also those of the City of Hull (now absorbed into Gatineau) across the Ottawa River in Quebec as well. These were mostly of Irish descent; thus the parish was dedicated to St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Design for the present church building started in 1869 under the direction of architect Augustus Laver. Laver's firm, Fuller and Laver, also designed the East and West blocks of Ottawa's Parliament Buildings. In 1872, the cornerstone was blessed by Bishop Guigues (the first Bishop of Ottawa), and was laid by John A. Macdonald (the first Prime Minister of Canada). King McCord Arnoldi (architect) was responsible from 1874 to 1875 for the completion of the original design prepared in 1869 by Augustus Laver. In 1875, the building, not quite complete, was blessed by Bishop Guigues' successor, Bishop Duhamel. In 1898, Louis Zephirin Gauthier designed major alterations and a new altar for St. Patrick's, Kent Street at Nepean Street. A memorial plaque was unveiled on June 11, 1916 and is dedicated to St. Patrick's Basilica in appreciation for the privilege of worshipping in this church by the commanding officer (from 19 Jun 1916 to 13 Sep 1916) Lieutenant Colonel D.R. Street, officers N.C.O.s. and Men of the (Ottawa) 77th Overseas Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.). A World War I memorial painting, which depicts angels meeting a dying soldier on the battlefield and Jesus Christ on the cross, was erected by the parishioners and is dedicated to the soldiers of the St. Patrick's Basilica parish who fell during The Great War. At the bottom of the painting's wooden frame is the list of those soldiers. The Holy Name Society and Tabernacle Society erected a pair of stained glass windows depicting Military saints, which are dedicated to the Parish members who returned from World War II and those who made the supreme sacrifice. Memorial scrolls are dedicated to the members of the St. Patrick's Basilica Parish and Our