Church of Our Lady of Good Hope

The Church of Our Lady of Good Hope (French: Église Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Espérance) is an historic Carpenter Gothic-style Roman Catholic church building located on a bluff overlooking the Mackenzie River in Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories, Canada. Only 45 by 25 feet (13.7 by 7.6 m) in size, it was built between 1865 and 1885 as a mission of the Oblate Fathers. Father Émile Petitot, "renowned ethnologist, linguist and geographer of the Canadian northwest" was a resident of the mission from 1864 to 1878.^[1]

Church of Our Lady of Good Hope
66.2519°N 128.6439°W / 66.2519; -128.6439
Country	Canada
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	Listing at Diocesan website
History
Status	Mission
Founded	1864 (1864)
Dedication	Our Lady of Good Hope
Associated people	Émile Petitot
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	National Historic Site of Canada
Designated	1977
Architectural type	Carpenter Gothic
Groundbreaking	1865
Completed	1885
Specifications
Length	45 feet (14 m)
Width	25 feet (7.6 m)
Number of floors	1
Number of spires	1
Materials	Wooden frame
Administration
Archdiocese	Grouard-McLennan
Diocese	Mackenzie-Fort Smith
National Historic Site of Canada
Official name	Church of Our Lady of Good Hope National Historic Site of Canada
Designated	1977

The building's simple exterior, with its wooden siding, steep pitched roof, lancet windows and lancet entranceway under a steepled bell tower, make it a rather plain example of Carpenter Gothic style architecture, which belies the extraordinary painted decoration of its interior.^[1][2]

The Church of Our Lady of Good Hope was designated a National Historic Site of Canada on June 6, 1977. The designation does not include the historic cemetery located to the left of the church building.^[1]

Church of Our Lady of Good Hope - interior

Church of Our Lady of Good Hope - rear interior