Old Ursuline Convent Museum

By

Email this Page Printer Friendly Page

	Top-to-bottom: Retired Archbishop Hannan's Chaplain's Boots Worn on D-Day, Statuary from the Exhibits

On October 2, 2004, the Catholic Cultural Center Museum on the grounds of the Old Ursuline Convent in the French Quarter, the oldest colonial building in the Mississippi Valley, was dedicated by Francesco Cardinal Marchisano, Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter and Vicar General for His Holiness of the Vatican City.

Before the American civic customs and mores took hold after the Louisiana Purchase, French and Spanish colonial officials had little use for separating the affairs of the Catholic church and the civic apparatus of the state. So the history of the early church and the history of the French Quarter and the city are inexorably intertwined.

The Catholic Cultural and Heritage Center is an effort by the Church to preserve, restore and present the treasures and artifacts and architectural wonders that comprise the Catholic experience in the New Orleans Archdiocese. In addition to the Old Ursuline Convent and convent gardens at Chartres and Ursulines, St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square and historic St. Mary Church, adjacent to the Convent are part of the Catholic Culture and Heritage network of properties.

The Old Ursuline Convent Museum will be open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays. Call 504-523-6479 for further information.