Description

With its distinctive trio of steeples, St. Louis Cathedral anchors Jackson Square and the heart of the French Quarter. It's not as massive or ornate as centuries-old European cathedrals, but it is a historic landmark and a reminder that New Orleans' French and Spanish colonists were predominantly catholic. If nothing else, that's why Louisiana celebrates Mardi Gras.

While many tourists visit the cathedral and take photos of its facade, it is a place of worship, and mass is celebrated at 7:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday and at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Sunday. There are many additional services offered during religious holidays. It is a sought after venue for weddings, and those interested in securing a date should plan no less than six months in advance.

The cathedral features a 4,500-pipe organ, and as one might expect of any institution in New Orleans, music has always played a strong role in its link to the community. Besides music related to religious services, the cathedral hosts a free concert series during the three weeks before Christmas, and performers include school choirs as well as jazz musicians.

Founding the Louisiana colony was no easy task as the first colonists chose to erect a city on a small sliver of land surrounded by swamps. The St. Louis church didn't have a much easier beginning. The original wooden structure on Jackson Square (then called Place d'Armes) collapsed during a storm with strong winds in the 1720s. The replacement burned down, ironically on Good Friday, when a massive fire swept through the French Quarter in 1788. A replacement church was completed just in time to become the head of the newly formed Diocese for Louisiana and the Floridas, and thus it was dedicated as a cathedral in 1794. Construction of the current building began as a project to renovate and enlarge the cathedral to accommodate the growing population, but structural difficulties lead to a massive overhaul, and work was eventually competed in 1851. It remains the United States' oldest continuously active cathedral.

Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral in September 1987, although he celebrated mass outdoors at the lakefront near the University of New Orleans.