Here’s a really quick look at The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church (a mouthful) perched atop an escarpment in the neighbourhood of Renfrew. There’s great views from the property overlooking Bridgeland below and in back, there’s the spectacular skyline of Downtown Calgary. Built in the latter half of the 1950s, it’s follows pretty typical (traditional) Ukrainian Church practice in form and construction.
The main structure is cruciform is shape, really only obvious if looking down from the heavens and the altar is west facing, the preferred orientation. Above, there’s one large dome flanked by four smaller in size. In this configuration, and there can be others (in specific numeric groupings), the five represent Christ along with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the “Four Evangelists”.
This structure replaced an earlier church, dating back to the 1910s and found in neighbourhood a bit to the northwest which was later moved to Bridgeland a few blocks away down the same street the current building is on. This building is no longer there. On the opening of this new church the name of the Parish changed its name from St. Stephen’s to present day Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This is one of a handful of Ukrainian Catholic Churches in the city. We’d sure love to see the inside and have put in a request to make an official revisit. Finger’s crossed.
Short Subjects: reports that for any number of reasons are brief in nature. They might be updates to older articles, previews of posts planned or not yet published, brief snippets of things that don’t fit in anywhere else or subjects that are so obscure that information on them can’t be found. Or sometimes we just ramble on about Lord knows what.
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Date of adventure: July, 2018. Location: Calgary, Alberta.
We have a lot of crazy obsessions, but documenting old churches is high on the list. That they’ve meant so much to so many, over so much time, makes them something special.
We used to do something called the "pointless challenge" 🤪 and miss those days. It was so much silly fun and often frustrating as heck. In these we'd invite people to send in random photos of obscure locations, but not give any information, and then we'd track where it was and shoot something similar.
Most of these came from old family collections, as was the case here. Anyone up to resurrecting the series?
In hindsight, why didn't we pose someone in our shot?
Pointless: “Devoid of meaning (or) senseless” Merriam-Webster.
If you like what we do and want to support this ongoing project (12 years now), go here: https://www.BIGDoer.com/help-the-society/ Thanks to Connie for making this post possible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: ca1970 and 2014. Posted by Connie.
Captured on a cold, cold day many years ago. We've been passing this old house for decades and it's little changed in that time. At some point we expect to drive by and it'll be gone.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
When retired old railway cars usually get cut up for scrap. Sometimes, however, they find their way into the hands of the general public or whomever. Flat cars make good bridges, and boxcars can be transformed into storage buildings and the like. Case in point here. We see them used like this often enough and in this case, it's part of a corral.
Incidentally, this boxcar dates from 1950 and this was found by tracing the old road number, which is still visible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
This central Alberta racetrack was never a commercial operation but instead just a fun place for car enthusiasts in the area to get together. Early '70s or thereabouts and it only lasted a few years. Even thought it's been abandoned for that long, there is no doubt what was here.
You know we like the the obscure stuff and this one fits the bill perfectly. Found by accident while backroad cruising and the history comes thanks to local car guy Mike.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
On top of little Myrtle Mountain in the Kimberley (BC) Nature Park.
There's some good wilderness fun to be had here and nice views as you can see, but the real reason we came is mining history. The whole area near the ski hill was extensively worked over a century ago and we were looking for evidence of this. We didn't find much in the area searched, but it's a big chunk of property and we hope to return to cover more ground again soon. Of all the subjects we cover, mining related is a favourite.
Still, it was a good hike and that can't be bad. Look to the comments for more info 👇.
Exploring nature and history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
It's a strange curiosity in south Kananaskis, there on a hillside and we have no idea who created it. We asked around and no one's completely sure about its history. In the past it showed the Canada 100 logo from 1967 but in 2017 someone changed it to reflect the country's 150th.
That's our friend Emily from DanOCan.com having a look.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
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Nice shots! There you are wandering the city again.
Can’t sit still…
I stumbled upon it during a Sunday walk and found the building and view here breathtaking.
Yes, that view is something too.
What a classic building.
So true. A (relatively) modern take on a traditional design.
Thanks. I just love these old churches!
We have a lot of crazy obsessions, but documenting old churches is high on the list. That they’ve meant so much to so many, over so much time, makes them something special.
Very cool!
Glad you like it.