Jackson Square & St. Louis Cathedral: Heart of the Crescent City

Why is it significant?

Stand in the center of Jackson Square right beneath the rearing bronze horse of General Andrew Jackson, looking toward the three white spires of St. Louis Cathedral. Listen to the soulful trumpet notes of street musicians and the clatter of mule-drawn carriages on Decatur Street.

Key Facts

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Stand in the center of Jackson Square right beneath the rearing bronze horse of General Andrew Jackson, looking toward the three white spires of St. Louis Cathedral. Listen to the soulful trumpet notes of street musicians and the clatter of mule-drawn carriages on Decatur Street. You are standing inside the Place d'Armes, laid out in seventeen twenty-one by French military engineer Adrien de Pauger as the colonial military parade ground of Nouvelle-Orléans. Look at the bronze statue: sculpted in eighteen fifty-six by Clark Mills, it was the first equestrian statue in the world where the entire multi-ton weight is balanced entirely on the horse's two hind legs without props. Andrew Jackson tips his hat in victory over the British in the eighteen fifteen Battle of New Orleans. Look at the triple spires of St. Louis Cathedral: consecrated in seventeen ninety-four, it is the oldest continuously active Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States. In the early nineteenth century, legendary Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau worshipped here regularly, seamlessly blending Catholic saint devotions with West African spirits. Turn to your left toward the arched colonnades of The Cabildo.