Origins Alexis Landry (1721–1798), a merchant born in
Grand-Pré and a survivor of the
Expulsion of the Acadians, settled in Caraquet probably around 1757 with three other families. Escaping deportation again during Roderick MacKenzie's raid in 1761, Landry left his land with his family for a few years to ensure his safety. or perhaps as early as 1772 or 1771. This church, dedicated to Sainte Anne, would have been built out of logs on land donated by Landry, with the permission of the
Jesuit Jean-Baptiste de La Brosse. In 1766, barely ten years after the Deportation of the Acadians, the Bishop of
Quebec promised to send a missionary to serve all the Acadians in the Maritimes. Because of its geographical position and the size of its population, Caraquet was frequently visited by missionaries. The first was
Charles-François Bailly de Messein (1768–1773), followed by
Joseph-Mathurin Bourg (1773–1785) and
Antoine Girouard (1785–1787), who became the first resident missionary in Caraquet in 1787. In 1791, Alexis Landry took steps to have a church built there. After the church was built, the following missionaries celebrated masses there: Jean-Baptiste Castanet (1794–1795), Mathurin Bourg (1795–1796), Jean-Baptiste Castanet (1796–1797), Louis-Joseph Desjardins (1797–1798), René-Pierre Joyer (1798–1806), Urbain Orfroy (1806–1813) and Phil-Antoine Parent (1813–1817).
Caraquet church The church of Sainte-Anne-du-Bocage was too far away for the inhabitants of the eastern part of the town and was accordingly abandoned around 1818. A new chapel, the one visible today, was nevertheless built in Le Bocage. According to Rosemonde Landry, it was built between 1829 and 1844, while a letter discovered by Fidèle Thériault states that it was built in 1836 or later; other sources mention an interval between 1832 and 1836. Three popular hypotheses explain why it was built: the first is that it was a monument to the survivors of the Deportation; the second is that it was a way for parishioners to improve their chances of having a church in their area; and finally, according to the third hypothesis, it was a chapel built by sailors who had survived a shipwreck as a tribute to their survival. In fact, according to Rosemonde Cormier's research, the first pilgrimage took place on July 26, 1857, following a shipwreck on July 22 that claimed 56 lives. The
Caraquet & Gulf Shore railway was built nearby in 1887, and even before the work was completed in November, the train made a stop at Sainte-Anne-du-Bocage station, allowing pilgrims from as far away as
Bathurst to come to the shrine. Tickets were half-price on St Anne's Day, as the company encouraged such celebrations. The chapel was renovated in 1904 and Gothic-style windows were installed a few years later. A staircase leading to the so-called miraculous spring, as well as a grotto housing a statue, were built and blessed the same year. A museum was opened in the sanctuary in 1940, containing letters, maps, objects of worship previously used in the chapel, and other items, including some that belonged to
Alexis Landry. In 1947, Martin Lavigne of Bathurst claimed to have been
miraculously cured of a disability after the pilgrimage, attracting a record crowd of probably 20,000 the following year. The ritual of blessing the sick was introduced in 1949. In 1951, the
Capuchins of
Bathurst and
Listuguj (Quebec) took over from the Redemptorists in organizing the pilgrimage. In the 1950s, the cult of
Notre-Dame de l'Assomption, the
patron saint of
Acadia, became very important, and a statue of her was unveiled in 1952. According to Denise Lamontagne, this meant that the cult of Sainte-Anne au Bocage now complemented that of Mary. A replica of the chapel as it existed before 20th-century renovations were built in the 1970s at the
Village Historique Acadien Provincial Park, Stones were installed on the banks of the park in 1996 to protect it from increasing erosion. The chapel was renovated and enlarged in 1999. On July 26, 2004, to mark the 400th anniversary of Acadia, Cardinal
Marc Ouellet celebrated a mass attended by more than 10,000 people. A monument commemorating the Great Upheaval was unveiled on July 28, 2007. The spring was rebuilt in 2011 after a storm. File:Extérieur Sainte-Anne-du-Bocage VHA.JPG|Exterior of the replica chapel at the Historic Acadian Village. File:Intérieur Sainte-Anne-du-Bocage VHA.JPG|The altar in the replica chapel. == Buildings and facilities ==