The Saint Louis Cathedral Cathedral of Saint Louis King of France, A Minor Basilica established as a Parish in 1720 in New Orleans, Louisiana
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Virtual Tours of the Saint Louis Cathedral

Tour the Surroundings

The tour of the surrounding is not, by any means, all encompassing. 
If you believe we should add something, please forward text and images to the webmaster for consideration.

Behind the Cathedral - Saint Anthony's Garden and Royal Street

To our Left (facing the Cathedral) - The Cabildo

To our Right (facing the Cathedral) - The Presbytere

In front of the Cathedral - Jackson Square

St. Anthony’s Garden

In the rear of the Cathedral there is one of the most delightful spots in the
Vieux Carre -  St. Anthony’s Garden. This little island of green, with its noble
oak, sycamore and magnolia trees in the shadow of the wall of the sanctuary,
is an intriguing sight to tourists and a continual delight to residents.

The little square was created in 1831 when the city bought from the trustees
and from a private owner strips of land on each side of Orleans Street in back
of the Cathedral and closed that part of the street. 

In 1848, part of the square was deeded to the trustees with the understanding
that they were to enlarge the church. The trustees enclosed it with an iron
fence and it has been a garden ever since.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most charming features of this little park is the diminutive white
marble obelisk, topped by a funerary urn erected near the Royal Street side.
This memorial was originally erected in August, 1859, at the cemetery of the
Louisiana Quarantine Station situated upstream from Forts Jackson and St.
Philip, above the Head of Passes of the Mississippi River. 

19 members of the crew of the French ship of war, Tonnerre (Thunder),
had been buried following an outbreak of yellow fever in Mexican waters.

When the Tonnerre returned to France, the survivors of the 80 who
had originally sailed approached Lieutenant Maudet and handed him 400
francs with a request that he arrange for a suitable memorial to the 30 officers.

The statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is in the background.

Inscriptions in French on the statue, translated, read:

To the memory of thirty seamen, members of the crew of the Steam Corvette,
Tonnerre, of the Imperial French Navy, who died at the Quarantine of New
Orleans in August 1857. Erected by order of His Excellency, Admiral Hamelin, Minister
of the Navy of Emperor Napoleon III.

The names of the seamen and their rank are inscribed on panels in the base of the obelisk.

The little monument stood for fifty years, 70 miles below New Orleans.
Eventually, the Quarantine Station was removed, its buildings decayed, and
the monument, overthrown in a hurricane, lay broken and covered by under-
brush.

In 1914 Pierre Lacaze, Vice-Consul of France, in going through old records
discovered the papers relating to the incident. He and Andre Lafargue went
down the river and visited the site and after some hours of exploration discov-
ered the broken monument. After a solemn ceremony in the Cathedral
on July 14, 1914, the casket containing the remains was interred in a vault
under the monument.

In 1941 the charming garden paths with their boxwood hedges were laid
out by the architect Richard Koch in collaboration with landscape architect
William S. Wiedorn for Mrs. J. Cornelius Rathborne who presented the garden
work to the Cathedral. The garden was landscaped in 1987 prior to the visit
of Pope John Paul II.

St. Anthony’s garden also contains a white marble statue of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus which was placed there as a memorial to New Orleans banker
J.E. Merilh and his wife.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To our Left (facing the Cathedral) - The Cabildo

To our Right (facing the Cathedral) - The Presbytere

In front of the Cathedral - Jackson Square

Clcik on the image to visit Jackson Square

 

The complete history of the Cathedral can be purchased at our Virtual Giftshop for $7.00 plus shipping

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