St. Louis Cathedral Bell Tower - New Orleans, LA
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N 29° 57.473 W 090° 03.811
15R E 783399 N 3317746
St. Louis Cathedral is located at 615 Pere Antoine Alley between St. Peter Street and St. Ann Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Waymark Code: WM12CZV
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 05/01/2020
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The cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and is the oldest cathedral in continuous use in what would become the United States. It is dedicated to Saint Louis, also known as King Louis IX of France.
The first church on the site was built in 1718; the third, under the Spanish rule, built in 1789, was raised to cathedral rank in 1793. The original St. Louis Cathedral was burned during the great fire of 1788 and was expanded and largely rebuilt and completed in the 1850s, with little of the 1789 structure remaining.
In 1819 a New Orleans clockmaker, Jean Delachaux, was authorized by the trustees to obtain a suitable clock to be placed in the facade of the Cathedral.
As this was a project of general civic interest, the City Council agreed to the expense of buying the clock and its bell and also to share in the cost of erecting a central tower to house them. Delachaux brought the clock and bell with him from Paris.
This bell, which still rings out the hours from above the church's clock, is inscribed in French: Braves Louisianais, cette cloche dont le nom est Victoire a été fondue en mémoire de la glorieuse journée du 8 Janvier 1815. [Brave people of Louisiana, this clock, whose name is Victory, was cast in memory of the glorious 8th of January, 1815].
Surmounting both inscriptions are American eagles and at the bottom of the bell an inscription reads: Fondue a Paris pour M. Jn. Delachaux de Nouvelle Orleans. [Cast in Paris for Mr. John Delachaux of New Orleans.]
The bell was embossed with the name "Victoire" in commemoration of the Battle of New Orleans victory in 1815.
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