St. Louis Cathedral

Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, located on Jackson Square, is the oldest continuously active Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States. Rebuilt twice after a devastating 1788 fire and an 1850 tower collapse, the current structure houses the tomb of benefactor Don Andres Almonester y Roxas. Its largest bell, Victoire, was cast in 1819 to honor Andrew Jackson's 1815 victory at the Battle of New Orleans.

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

St. Louis Cathedral, 615 Pere Antoine Alley, New Orleans

Why was the largest bell at Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans named Victoire?

Look at those incredible three steeples rising above Jackson Square. You are standing before Saint Louis Cathedral... the oldest continuously active Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States. But here's what most people don't realize. The building you're looking at is actually the Third church to stand on this very ground.......... The story begins in seventeen eighteen, when French explorer Bienville traced out a town plan for New Orleans and placed a church right here, at the heart of everything. A French military engineer named Adrien de Pauger chose this exact site... but died before the building was finished. His last wish? To be buried inside the unfinished walls. And it's believed that request was granted.......... That first permanent church, completed in seventeen twenty-seven, served the city for six decades. Then came the catastrophe. On Good Friday, March twenty-first, seventeen eighty-eight, fire broke out on Chartres Street. According to a well-known legend, residents rushed to the church and begged the priest to ring the warning bells. But he refused... because it was Good Friday, a day of penance, and bells were considered signs of Joy. Whether true or not, the fire destroyed eighty percent of the French Quarter, including the church.......... The very next day, a wealthy Spanish nobleman named Don Andres Almonester y Roxas offered to rebuild the cathedral entirely at his own expense. He spent fifty thousand dollars... a staggering fortune in those days. The new church opened its doors on Christmas Eve, seventeen ninety-four. And Don Andres? He's Still here... entombed beneath the floor with his young daughter Andrea.......... But the drama didn't end there! In eighteen fifty, during a major renovation, the central tower suddenly Collapsed, bringing down part of the roof and walls. The architect, a Frenchman named de Pouilly, was fired despite it being the contractor's fault. His reputation was ruined... yet his distinctive design was completed as planned.......... Now listen for the bells. The largest one, still ringing every hour above you, dates to eighteen nineteen. Its name? Victoire... French for Victory. It was cast to honor Andrew Jackson's triumph at the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson himself attended a solemn thanksgiving Mass right here on January twenty-third, eighteen fifteen.......... And one more secret. On April twenty-fifth, nineteen oh nine, a mysterious explosion rocked this cathedral... a nitroglycerin bomb placed in the choir loft. Stained glass shattered into the streets. Miraculously, no one was injured. Two men were arrested, but the charges were dropped. To this day, no one knows who did it... or why.