The Presbytère

The Presbytère, located next to Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, is a landmark designed in 1791 as a church rectory that was never used by clergy. Funded by Spanish philanthropist Don Andrés Almonester y Roxas, it later served as a courthouse before becoming a museum. Its French-style Mansard roof was added in the 1840s, while its hurricane-destroyed cupola was missing for 90 years until replaced in 2005.

New Orleans · from the walk “Moon Walk: New Orleans Riverfront Revealed” · audio ~3 min · Generated

The Presbytère, 751 Chartres St, New Orleans

Why was the cupola on the Presbytère in New Orleans missing for ninety years?

Take a look at the building to the right of Saint Louis Cathedral... the Presbytère. It looks grand and purposeful, doesn't it? But here's the thing... this building was Never used for what it was designed for.......... Designed in seventeen ninety-one to serve as the rectory of the Cathedral of Saint Louis, the Presbytère took more than two decades to complete. Originally called Casa Curial, or "Ecclesiastical House," it was built on the site of the residence of the Capuchin monks. But despite the holy name and holy intentions... the Presbytère was never used by the clergy. Instead, it held commercial enterprises until eighteen thirty-four, when it became a courthouse.......... Now, the man who paid for all of this was Don Andrés Almonester y Roxas, a Spanish notary who arrived in New Orleans with modest means. Born in Mairena del Alcor, Spain, in seventeen twenty-four, he became a philanthropist today chiefly remembered for his numerous charitable benefactions to New Orleans. After the Great New Orleans Fire of seventeen eighty-eight, Don Almonester funded a public school, a charity hospital at the then-considerable cost of one hundred fourteen thousand dollars, and rebuilt the buildings on either side of the cathedral, the hospital, a chapel for the Ursulines, and founded the leper hospital. The man essentially rebuilt this city out of his own pocket!......... And here's a detail most people miss. Look up at the roof. See that elegant French Mansard roof with the Cupola on top? That was Not part of the original Spanish design. In the eighteen forties, Baroness Pontalba, Almonester's own daughter, planned French-inspired renovations to her private buildings on Jackson Square. Her proposed renovations motivated the city council to add a French-style Mansard roof to both the Presbytère and the Cabildo, giving the buildings the appearance they have today.......... But the Cupola has its Own wild story. A Cupola was added in eighteen forty-seven and was visible in photographs from around nineteen hundred... but it went missing during the New Orleans Hurricane of nineteen fifteen and was not recovered. Gone. Just... vanished in the storm. For ninety years, the Presbytère sat there, lopsided compared to its twin, the Cabildo. It wasn't until two thousand five that the Cupola, lost in that nineteen fifteen hurricane, was finally replaced.......... And at the time of the LouisiAna Purchase in eighteen oh three... only the first floor of the Presbytère was complete. So when the United States took possession of this territory in one of history's greatest real estate deals... this building was still half-finished, sitting right here on the square.......... Today, inside these walls, you'll find two permanent exhibits that capture the soul of this city. One of celebration and one of resilience. The Mardi Gras exhibit offers rare glimpses into the secretive social club society from which modern-day krewes evolved. And the Hurricane Katrina exhibit... it took five years of collecting before museum staff were ready to display the vast array of artifacts that tell a deeply personal story of the people affected by that life-changing disaster.......... Celebration and survival, side by side... in a building that was never meant to be what it became. That's New Orleans for you.