It dates from 1767. It weighs some 600 pounds (nearly 275 kilos). And it’s still ringing!
The present bell tower of La Nativité church has a total of four bells, one of which was salvaged from the old church on the same site. And when it rings, the sound you hear is, well, the original sound that our great-ancestors (at least, those who lived in Laprairie) heard.
Indeed, this bell, one of the oldest still in use in Quebec, remains in its original state. It has never been recast or remodeled. And – a miracle of the technology of the time – it has never needed anti-wrinkle cream.