Page 348 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

346  THE DEEP SOUTH

7 Washington 8 St. Louis
Artillery Park and Cemetery #1
Moonwalk Map C2. 425 Basin St between St.
Louis & Conti. Tel (504) 596-3050.
Map E3. Decatur St, between St. Ann &
St. Peter sts. @ 3, 5, 55. v Riverfront. @ 46, 48, 52, 57. Open 9am–3pm
Mon–Sat, 9am–noon Sun.
Closed Mardi Gras. 7 8
Washington Artillery Park
faces Jackson Square from
Decatur Street. Inside the park The city’s oldest surviving ceme-
is an austere concrete amphi- tery was established in 1789. This
theater with a central staircase fascinating place, with its rows of
leading to the Moonwalk. mausoleums, is the resting place
This community boardwalk of many legendary local residents.
was named after former New The most famous of all is probably
Orleans Mayor Maurice “Moon” Marie Laveau, the voodoo
Landrieu, who approved the priestess. Crowds visit her tomb,
St. Louis Cathedral construction of flood walls that marking it with an “X” (symboli-
6 St. Louis made the riverfront area cally requesting that she grant
accessible to the public.
a particular wish). By 1829,
Cathedral, Cabildo, The park was built in 1976 St. Louis Cemetery #1 was
& Presbytère and was once used as a filled, mostly with victims
military training ground, but of yellow fever, and the
Map D2. Jackson Square. Tel (504) today the amphitheater and nearby St. Louis Cemetery
525-9585 (St. Louis Cathedral), (504) Moonwalk are favored #2 was established as an
568-6968 (Cabildo & Presbytère). by street performers. extension. Many of the
v St. Charles Ave, Canal. @ 3, 5, 55, Crowds often city’s 19th-century
81. Open 8:30am–4pm daily (St. Louis Statue of an angel, St.
Cathedral); 10am–4:30pm Tue–Sun gather to enjoy Louis Cemetery #1 Creole aristocracy
(Cabildo & Presbytère). & Cabildo & performances by are buried here in
Presbytère. 5 St. Louis Cathedral, musicians, including ornate mausoleums.
regular services throughout the day. guitarists, clarinettists, However, the cemeteries
7 8 = ∑ stlouiscathedral.org saxophonists, trombonists, and should not be visited alone,
steel drummers, who play with as they are in secluded areas
This complex of buildings an open case at their feet to where muggers and pick-
comprises the cathedral, Cabildo, collect donations. pockets operate. It is advisable
and Presbytère. St. Louis The breeze along the water- for visitors to join guided
Cathedral, which stands on front can provide a welcome tours, given by the Save Our
the site of two earlier churches, break from the humidity of the Cemeteries organization
is the oldest Catholic cathedral city, and it’s also the perfect and by Gray Line Tours. Both
in continuous use in the US. vantage point from which to companies provide plenty of
The current building, begun see the river, Jackson Square, excellent local information.
in 1789, was dedicated as a and the surrounding area. Stone
cathedral in 1794. Inside are steps lead down to where you 8 Gray Line Tours
superb murals and a carved- can dangle your feet in the Tel (504) 569-1401.
wood Baroque main altar. water, but don’t attempt to ∑ graylineneworleans.com
The Cabildo, designed by stand in it, as the current is 8 Save Our Cemeteries
Guilberto Guillemard, was built deceptively powerful. Tel (504) 525-3377.
and financed in 1795 by Don
Andrés Almonester y Rojas. It
served as a capitol for the legis- Voodoo Worship
lative assembly of the Spanish Voodoo arrived in New Orleans from Africa,
Colonial government and subse- via the Caribbean, where it originated as a
quently as the City Hall. From form of ancestor worship among the West
1853 to 1911 it housed the state African tribes, who were brought to North
Supreme Court. The Louisiana America as slaves. During the slave uprising in
Purchase (see p338) was signed in Saint Dominigue in 1793, many of the planters
the Sala Capitular in 1803. from Haiti fled to New Orleans, bringing their
The Casa Curial, or slaves (and voodoo) with them. Marie Laveau Portrait of Marie Laveau
Pres bytère, was built between (c.1794–1881), the voodoo queen, used
1794 and 1813, and used as Catholic elements such as prayer, incense, and
saints in her rituals, which she opened to the public for an admission
a courthouse until 1911. It fee. The voodoo calendar’s high point was the celebration she held
now houses the Mardi Gras along Bayou St. John on St. John’s Eve.
Museum, featuring colorful
objects and memorabilia.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp368–70 and pp371–3

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