Cabildo, The - New Orleans, LA
Posted by: 
JimmyEv
N 29° 57.458 W 090° 03.828
15R E 783372 N 3317718
Built in 1795 to house the government of Spanish Louisiana, the Cabildo, with its twin the Presbytere, perfectly frame St. Louis Cathedral.
Waymark Code: WM1C3V
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 03/31/2007
Views: 89
Flanking St. Louis Cathedral on either side are identical Spanish Colonial buildings. On the right (facing from Jackson Square) is the Presbytere, on the left the Cabildo. Both are massive, two-story stuccoed brick structures. The lower stories have wide porticos with semi-circular arches. They were designed by Gilberto Guillemard, a French architect serving in the Spanish military. Rear wings were added in 1840, and the French mansard roof (the third story) was added in 1847. Construction of both buildings, as well as the cathedral itself, was financed by Don Andres Almonester y Roxas.
The Cabildo was built in 1795 to house the legislative and administrative council responsible for governing Spanish Louisiana, the ‘Illustrious Cabildo’. The Cabildo was the seat of the territory’s government until the Spanish left in November 1803. For less than a month, the building served as the seat of government for French Louisiana, Maison de Ville. It was here, at the Cabildo, on December 20, 1803 that the Louisiana Territory formally went from French hands into the Americans’.
The Cabildo, its role as the center of government over, became the home of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Since 1911, the Cabildo has housed the history museum of the Louisiana State Museum historical museum complex.
