Sainte-Anne de Beaupre is a tiny town on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, 20 miles above Quebec City in Canada. The village is home to (and named for) the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, a major Catholic shrine and place of healing that attracts more than a million pilgrims per year.The first chapel was built on this site by early settlers in 1658 to house a miraculous statue of St. Anne.The first miracle attributed to the intercession of St. Anne at Beaupre was the cure of a crippled workman in 1658. Miracles and healings continued to be attributed to the miraculous statue over the centuries to the present day. The chapel in the basilica is stacked with crutches, canes and folded wheelchairs no longer needed, as well as paintings of deliverance and healing. The first basilica was tragically destroyed by fire on March 29, 1922. It was replaced by the present basilica, which was completed in 1926. Though dating from 1926, the present basilica contains a number of 18th-century sculptures and artworks. The interior is a feast for the eyes, filled with delightful details. The 240 stained glass windows were created using a new technique that suffuses the light beautifully. The ceiling and sides of the church are covered in mosaics of the life of St. Anne, the saints of Canada, 88 scenes from the life of Jesus, and figurative and geometrical designs. The ends of the wooden pews tell the story of Creation with carved figures of animals and plants. But the focus of pilgrims to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre is not the architecture, but the miraculous statue of St. Anne. The basilica is the centerpiece of a large shrine complex, which includes several more chapels, a holy well and a lifesize set of the Stations of the Cross.