Saint Boniface Cathedral: A 360° Tour of Winnipeg’s Historic Landmark By Gear for Greatness
- gear4greatness
- Feb 14
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 17
Saint Boniface Cathedral: A 360° Tour of Winnipeg’s Historic Landmark by Gear for Greatness
There’s a certain feeling that comes over me every time I walk toward the stone façade of Saint Boniface Cathedral — a mixture of silence, history, and something almost spiritual in the air. The moment the ruins come into view, framed by sky and winter light, you feel the weight of time pressing gently against your chest. This place doesn’t just stand; it remembers. I brought the Insta360 X4 with me because I wanted to capture that feeling, not just the structure. I wanted to walk through the arches and let the camera collect the textures, the shadows, the echoes of footsteps on old stone. And as soon as I stepped through the entrance, that familiar spark hit me — the kind that makes you slow down, breathe deeper, and let the space pull you in. 🌄🎥✨
I started my walk beneath the towering arches, the remains of the original façade rising above me like a gateway to another lifetime. The sky peeked through the circular window at the top, creating a ring of light that felt almost otherworldly. I held the X4 in front of me on the invisible selfie stick, and it felt like the camera was floating through the ruins on its own, capturing every angle as if it already knew which details mattered. The FlowState stabilization softened my steps as I moved across uneven stone, and the footage had this drifting, dreamlike quality I didn’t expect — like I was gliding through memories rather than a physical place. 💭✨
There was something haunting and beautiful about seeing the contrast between ruin and revival. You can still feel the devastation of the fire that tore the cathedral apart in 1968, yet right in the center of those old stone walls, the modern chapel rises with clean lines and warm wood. Standing at that intersection of the past and present, I felt that quiet tingle of appreciation for how places can break and still rebuild themselves into something meaningful. I lifted the X4 toward the sky as clouds moved across the open roofline, letting the camera capture a natural time-lapse above the circular opening. Watching those clouds drift past the stone rim felt symbolic — like time itself was passing through the wound the fire left behind. 🌥️⚙️🌿
Walking toward the cemetery paths, the entire mood shifted again. The sounds softened, the air felt still, and the garden areas surrounding the cathedral carried this gentle calm that made you slow your pace without thinking. I moved quietly between the headstones, letting the camera capture the rows of weathered stone, the delicate shadows from the trees, and the soft details of the burial site of Louis Riel. Standing by his grave, I felt a small moment of stillness — not just because of who he was, but because the space itself invites reflection. The grass, the wind, the old carvings — everything seemed to whisper stories. I filmed that area slowly, letting the X4 take in the quiet without rushing it. 🌾🌫️💛
What I love about 360° filming in places like this is how it keeps me present. I’m not framing, not fussing, not adjusting. I’m just walking, feeling, absorbing. The X4 catches what I see and what I miss — the way sunlight hits the stone, the way shadows stretch across pathways, the little details carved into the archways that I might have overlooked. It lets me stay inside the experience instead of stepping out to manage the gear. And for a place this emotionally heavy and visually powerful, that mattered. Every step felt like part of the story. Every breath felt like part of the moment. 🌄✨
Saint Boniface Cathedral: A 360° Tour of Winnipeg’s Historic Landmark By Gear for Greatness
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FINAL THOUGHTS
Standing inside the ruins of Saint Boniface Cathedral, I felt that familiar mix of awe and sadness — awe at the beauty of what still stands, and sadness for what was lost. There’s a quiet spirit in those stones, a sense of resilience that carries through the air as you walk under the arches. Filming it in 360° made me feel like I was capturing not just the visuals, but the heartbeat of the place itself. It’s rare for architecture to make you feel this much, but these walls do it effortlessly. 💭🌅
What stayed with me long after I left was how the cathedral represents both memory and survival. Seeing the modern chapel tucked inside the ruins reminded me of how personal growth often works — we rebuild within the parts of ourselves that have been damaged, carrying both the scars and the new structure together. The X4 allowed me to preserve that symbolism in a way that felt honest and cinematic. I liked how easy it was to stay in the moment, how the camera moved with me like a quiet observer. The only thing I wished for was a bit more dynamic range in extreme lighting, but even that felt like part of the charm — nothing is ever captured perfectly, and that’s okay. 🎥✨
The entire place felt like a dialogue between time and space. The arches reaching upward like open hands, the sky framed perfectly through the rose window, the soft grass surrounding the graves where history rests — all of it felt like pieces of a story still unfolding. Walking through those grounds reminded me of the way life moves: sometimes steady, sometimes harsh, sometimes beautiful. Every ruin has a story, and every rebuilt section has a purpose. 🌿🌤️🌄
In the end, filming the cathedral didn’t feel like documenting a landmark — it felt like listening to something ancient speak in symbols and stone.
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