St. Aspinquid's Chapel

St. Aspinquid's Chapel was established by Priest Louis-Pierre Thury at Chebucto (present day Halifax, Nova Scotia) in the late 17th century.

The chapel is a natural stone amphitheatre located by Chain Rock Battery on the Northwest Arm at Point Pleasant Park.

Tradition indicates Thury named the chapel after a Mi’kmaq Chief Aspinquid (Aspenquid), who converted to Catholicism and drew many others into the faith.

[15] Historically the feast was the great social event of the year in the Mi’kmaq community, attracting various tribes of different native groups from all over the northeast region.

[20] But in 1786, evidence of Mi’kmaq support for patriots in the American Revolution alarmed the local authorities and further celebration of the old feast was forbidden.

[31][32][33] The Duc d'Anville Expedition arrived with the crew dying of typhus, which spread to and devastated the Mi’kmaq who were at Chebucto, many of whom are interred at the burial ground (1746).