St. Louis Cathedral

St. Louis Cathedral, formally the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, faces Jackson Square in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, and is regarded as the oldest continuously active Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States. A parish church stood on the site from the early 1720s; the Spanish-era building, funded largely by the philanthropist Don Andres Almonester y Rojas, was completed in 1794 after the 1788 fire that devastated the town, and the church was elevated to a cathedral that year. By the 1840s the structure was failing, and the present building was designed by architect J.N.B. de Pouilly and substantially rebuilt between 1849 and 1851, retaining parts of the earlier walls. The result is a Latin-influenced Spanish and French colonial composition with three steeples, a central clock tower and a pale stucco facade. Pope Paul VI named it a minor basilica in 1964, and Pope John Paul II visited in 1987. Inside, visitors see a barrel-vaulted nave, painted ceiling murals depicting scenes from the life of Louis IX, stained glass, and an altar with ornate plasterwork. The cathedral also functions as a burial place for several early clergy and as a symbol of the city's Catholic and Creole heritage. The building is not a museum, so there is no curated route, but interpretive panels and a short self-guided circuit introduce its history. The adjacent Pere Antoine Alley and St. Anthony's Garden, behind the cathedral, honour the Capuchin priest Antonio de Sedella, who served the parish in the late 18th century. Restoration has been ongoing, with conservation of the facade, roof, murals and organ carried out in phases, and hurricane repairs following Katrina in 2005. Visitors should treat it as an active place of worship: services close the nave to sightseeing, and respectful dress is expected. A typical visit takes 20 to 30 minutes.