The first missionaries arrived from Paris to the fledging settlement at Port-Royal in 1611. The Jesuit’s goal to convert Indigenous people to the Catholic faith was tumultuous yet gradually successful. In 1773, the Society of Jesus was band worldwide by papal degree. Despite this, the British allowed the Jesuits to continue in Québec yet allowed no new members. The last Jesuit died in 1880. After the religious order was reinstated by Pope VII in 1814, plans were drawn by François Baillairgé to create a new place of worship. Chapelle des Jésuites was finished in 1820. The humble stone church faces Porte Saint-Jean within the Historic District.
