CITY WALK (Day 2 - part 2)

We took a quick peek into Musician Legend Park.


(right) Antoine "Fats" Domino, Al "Jumbo" Hirt and Pete Fountain


Fats Domino ... Louis Prima


Allen Toussaint ... Irma Thomas

Continuing the walk...

We arrived at the massive cathedral. The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis (also called St. Louis Cathedral) is dedicated to King Louis IX of France. The first Catholic church in this spot was a wooden structure built in 1718 in the early days of the French colony. It was destroyed in a hurricane in 1722. A larger brick and timber church was built from 1725 - 1727, but it was destroyed in the Good Friday Fire of 1788. The third one, under the Spanish rule, was started in 1789 and elevated to cathedral rank in 1793. It was expanded and rebuilt until the 1850s, replacing most of the older structure.


St. John Paul II visited the cathedral in 1987.


Two rows of flags hang from each balcony, including ten Louisiana flags covering the course of its history.

Erasme Humbrecht (1849 in Alsace Lorraine, France - 1901 in Cincinnati, Ohio) was 23 in 1872 when he began decorating the ceiling. The paintings depict various scenes from the life of Jesus Christ.


Jesus Christ is surrounded by the Apostles while God oversees everything.


Feed my lambs ... Feed my sheep


Peter (holding his symbolic key) kneels before Jesus. ... In the background is the cross of Calvary, with the lambs symbolizing Christ's flock.


Voici l’angeau de Dieu qui efface le peche’ du monde (Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of world)


The Nativity, with the infant Jesus in a manger, flanked by Mary and Joseph


Quite the expression!


The altar is from 1851.


The 40-foot painting above the altar depicts King Louis IX announcing the Seventh Crusade (from 1248 to 1254). This was the first of two unsuccessful holy wars in which Christians tried to reclaim the Holy Land in the Middle East from Muslim control. It was done on canvas by Erasme Humbrecht in 1872 and then attached to the plaster wall.


The statues above the altar represent the virtues of hope (with the anchor), faith (holding the eucharist) and...


... charity. They were created in 1851 Ghent, Belgium.


The two statues on the sides of the altar depict St. Peter (with a key) ... and St. Paul (with a book).

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