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French Quarter of New Orleans

The French Quarter is a historic heart of New Orleans. A French engineer named Adrien de Pauger laid out the Quarter in 1718. It was settled by French Creoles and known as Vieux Carré (literally means "old square").

Thanks to a strict preservation policy, the French Quarter of New Orleans didn't loose its historical view. Walking by its narrow shadow streets and looking at the colonial style buildings garnished with ornate iron grillwork, you might forget that you're living in the 21th century.

The French Quarter is full of bars, clubs, stores, residences and museums. It has a lot of places of historical interest. The best way to explore the New Orleans French Quarter is a walking tour. You can start your tour from the oldest part of the Quarter, Jackson Square.

The French Quarter Attractions

Jackson Square was originally called Place d'Armes. In the mid-1800s it was renamed to the honor of Andrew Jackson, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans. The equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson dates to the 1850. Surrounded by government, religious and commercial buildings, Jackson Square remains the heart of New Orleans.

The crown jewel of Jackson Square is St. Louis Cathedral Basilica. It is the nation's oldest active cathedral, with soaring ceilings and beautiful painted altar.

There are about a dozen Colonial Era buildings in the New Orleans French Quarter. The old Spanish Cabildo is one of the most significant from the historical point of view. The Spanish Council ruled New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana from here.

And here, in a upstairs chamber of the Cabildo, the papers, transferring Louisiana Colony to the United States, were signed in 1803. The Cabildo was designed by Guillemard, a French-born architect, in 1795.

Flanking the other side of the cathedral is the near identical Presbytere, built in 1795 to house priests (but it never served that purpose). Now it is the permanent home of the exhibit "Mardi Gras: It's Carnival Time in Louisiana."

Facing one another across Jackson Square, the redbrick Pontalba Buildings were constructed as apartments for Baroness de Pontalba, daughter of the cathedral's wealthy benefactor.

The oldest building in New Orleans French Quarter and in Louisiana is Convent of the Ursulines. The construction was started in 1745 and completed in 1753. It resembles Continental French buildings of the Louis XV period.