Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum

Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum
Established	1960s
Location	Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Type	national historic site
Website	www.msbm.mb.ca/english/profile.html

Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum is a museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that is dedicated to Franco-Manitoban culture and history. It is located in the oldest building in Winnipeg, a former convent run by the Grey Sisters. Begun in 1846 and finished in 1851, the former nunnery has been an orphanage, a school, a seniors' home, and was the first incarnation of the St. Boniface Hospital. The museum contains many Franco-Manitoban and Métis artifacts.

History

The first Grey Nuns who lived in this house arrived in 1844, and lived with Bishop Norbert Provencher until the house had been started. The nuns moved into the house in December 1846, at which time only the exterior walls of the first floor and the floor of the second floor above the kitchen had been completed. Due to the extreme temperatures of the region, it was necessary to somehow insulate the room. The nuns used bison pelts hung from the ceiling to do this.

When the building was finished, there was a basement, two floors and an attic. The building was built using the Red River construction method (also called mortise and tenon or tongue and groove). The building uses no nails to hold it together.

Since the late 1960s, the nunnery has been administered by first, the city of Saint-Boniface, then the City of Winnipeg after the amalgamation of 1971.

The museum is a national historic site.

External links

• Saint Boniface Museum website

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Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

References

1. ^ Guided Tour (2007)
2. ^ St. Boniface Museum