Usually driving into a small town in Saskatchewan you can see a couple of taller buildings on the horizon, and maybe a grain elevator. Uniquely, Gravelbourg's skyline is dominated by a cathedral. Built in 1918, Our Lady of the Assumption Co-Cathedral mixes Italianate and Romanesques architectural styles, and was originally the seat of the predominantly French language Catholic diocese of Gravelbourg until it was merged with the diocese of Regina, gaining the title "Co-Cathedral" (along with Holy Rosary Cathedral, also in the Atlas).
Originally dedicated to Saint Philomena, but in 1961 those in the Catholic Church in charge of determining the validity of saints said that St. Philomena was no longer to be celebrated (but didn't go quite so far as to remove her as a saint). Our Lady of Assumption was chosen as the Cathedral's patron in 1965. For a decade, (starting in 1921) Monseigneur Charles A.
Maillard painted the story of the Co-Cathedral's patron saint, St. Philomena, on the walls of the cathedral. According a reporter who visited in 1924, Msgr. Maillard used a local girl as a model for St.
Philomena herself, and "and a few older men posed as models for other persons". According to tour guides, visitors occasionally recognize relatives when visiting the Co-Cathedral! The Bishop's residence, Convent, and Co-Cathedral comprise all together comprise the Gravelbourg Ecclesiastical Buildings National Historic Site of Canada.
In 2024 the National Trust for Canada listed the Convent building one of their Top 10 Endangered Places.
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