city guide to sacred spaces – new orleans, la

City Guide to Sacred Spaces New Orleans, LA

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Sacred Space International / Tour Sacred Spaces

CIT Y GUIDE TO SACRED SPACES

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LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN

LAKE BORGNE

MISSISSIPPI

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Key Map

Sacred New Orleans: Introduction to finding sacred spaces in New Orleans

Individual Sacred Space Descriptions:

Map A

[NOLA 01] Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis King of France

[NOLA 02] Voodoo Spiritual Temple

[NOLA 03] The Church of the Immaculate Conception

[NOLA 04] New Orleans Zen Temple

Map B

[NOLA 05] St. Charles Avenue Streetcar

[NOLA 06] Christ Church Cathedral

[NOLA 07] Lafayette Cemetery No. 1

[NOLA 08] Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church

[NOLA 09] Touro Synagogue

[NOLA 10] Temple Sinai

[NOLA 11] St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church

Map C

[NOLA 12] Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity

Bibliography and Acknowledgments

Credits

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Table of Contents

CIT Y GUIDE TO SACRED SPACES

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SacredNew Orleans

Flying in over Lake Pontchartrain for the first time, I

thought it was a sea. From the air, and on our maps, the

landscape surrounding the city seems to dissolve. Land

blends with water appearing as a tentative, almost

untenable habitation. Hardscape roadway surfaces

seem inconspicuous within the sponge-like swamps

and bayous.

The city of New Orleans is in a cycle of renewal.

During our time there we saw spaces full of grandeur

and decrepitude. Mansions and slums sit next door to

one another and infrastructures seem fragile. The city

is at once struggling and letting go of its hold on the

environment. Five years after Hurricane Katrina, there is

still a feeling of vulnerability and grief. We felt that the

people we met were engaged stewards of their sacred

places in this historic city.

During our visit to the Voodoo Spiritual Temple,

Priestess Miriam said to me, that like her I too was a

Floater. We had come to America from faraway lands,

me from Ireland and she, via her ancestors in Africa. We

found commonality - what better city for a Floater to find

a home, than one who is awash in the waters of a great

Delta? The Voodoo Religion is strong in New Orleans

simply because like the city, there is something for

everyone all mixed together like sacred gumbo. No

matter what your background, we hope that you find

solace and peace in the spaces we suggest in our Guide.

Many of the spaces are linked together by one

of the main arteries defining the Crescent City: St.

Charles Avenue. Winding from the Central Business

District and Canal Street through the Garden District,

and Uptown, the avenue is lined with a stately parade

of sacred spaces. They are connected via our secular

selection The St. Charles Avenue Streetcar. With the

spaces threaded together by the stops on this line, you

can use this mobile sacred space as a method to travel.

Relax, enjoy and watch out for your stop. This will be the

tour of a lifetime.

Deirdre Colgan

Executive Director, Sacred Space International

Chicago, 2010

INTRODUCTION TO FINDING SACRED SPACES IN THE CITY

Soft, spongy moss grows between worn paving bricks in the French Quarter, epitomizing the fragile balance in the city.

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Elysian Fields Ave

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Louisiana Superdome

Louis Armstrong

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Mississippi River

Ponchartrain Expy

[NOLA 01] Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis King of France[NOLA 02] Voodoo Spiritual Temple[NOLA 03] The Church of the Immaculate Conception[NOLA 04] New Orleans Zen Temple

MORE TO SEE IN THIS AREA

SACRED SITES SELECTED

A. Marie Laveaus House of VoodooB. Old Ursuline Convent C. St. Louis Cemetery No.1D. St. Joseph ChurchE. Masjid Ur-Rahim

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CIT Y GUIDE TO SACRED SPACES

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Map A

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LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN

LAKE BORGNE

MISSISSIPPI

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Tulane University Hospital and Clinic

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Louis Armstrong

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One day I took a hammer and broke through the wall and found the windows. Theyre just too beautiful to not be seen.

REV. MSGR. CROSY KERN, RECTOR

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CATHEDRAL-BASILICA OF ST. LOUIS KING OF FRANCE

VISITOR INFORMATIONCathedral-Basilica of St. Louis King of France

[NOLA 01] ROMAN CATHOLIC

Interior view, looking towards the altar.

01.1

ADDRESS 615 Pre Antoine Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116-3291NEIGHBORHOOD

PARKING

French Quarter

Parking Lot in front of Jackson SquareCOORDINATES

NEAREST TRANSIT

29.957943, -90.063613

Riverfront Streetcar Line Exit at Toulouse

PHONE (504) 525-9585 Tours: (504) 525-9583

OPEN HOURS

SERVICE HOURS

TIPS & SUGGESTIONS FOR VISITORS

Daily 8:30 a.m. 4:00 p.m.

Monday Friday 7:30 a.m.Saturday 7:30 a.m., 4:00 p.m., 4:45 p.m.,

5:00 p.m. VigilSunday 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m.

For a self-guided tour, take a brochure at the church entrance. Visitors can get an impromptu tour from volunteer docents when available. Guided tours for groups are only available with prior reservations, call (504) 525-9583. The tour request form can be found on the Cathedrals website.

WEBSITE www.stlouiscathedral.org

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ABOUT: HISTORY & ORIGINS

A recent archaeological study found remnants of

European style buildings dating back before the founding

of the city of New Orleans in 1718 by Jean Baptiste Le

Moyne de Bienville, a French Canadian. He came to this

spot probably because it had long been a trading post for

the French, so they already knew the area. Bienville laid

out the plan of the city which was mostly wilderness at

the time. There has been a place of worship here since

1718. By 1720, with more colonists arriving, the St. Louis

parish was established, dedicated to Saint Louis (Louis

IX), in honor of Louis XV, the king of France at the time.

The first parish church was completed around 1730, but

was destroyed in the Great Fire in 1788, after which the

first cathedral was built. The Church was consecrated

as a cathedral in 1793 when the Diocese of Louisiana

and the Florida was established. The French were here

until the French and Indian War when Louis XV gave

the colony to his cousin King Charles III of Spain. The

Spanish clergy took over and the French began to leave.

The Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis King of France is

the oldest active Catholic cathedral in the United States

and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New

Orleans. In 1845, the buildings began to fall, due to New