NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – The historic St. Louis Cathedral in the heart of the French Quarter has captivated people for centuries. And today, we take a look underneath the Cathedral, a place very few people have seen: the crypts.
Auxiliary Bishop Rouxel is one of the people buried there. You can clearly see his headstone and the date of his passing way back in 1908.
Emilie Gagnet Leumas, the archives and records director for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, said since 1850, the Cathedral has seen 14 archbishops, 10 of whom are buried underneath the Cathedral, most recently Archbishops Hannon and Schulte.
“The others that are a little further underneath the church you can only get to by crawl space, and we’ve kind of run out of space underneath in those areas,” Gagnet Leumas said.
But despite what you may think, religious leaders aren’t the only people buried in the crypts of the Cathedral.
The crypts is the final resting place for roughly 100 community members, too. Church members, children, even very prominent families were buried underneath the Cathedral.
There are headstones on the Cathedral floor showcasing where prominent families were buried.
“Felipe Mandeville, along with his two sons, was buried here and Mandeville is a known name around here because that’s where his land was and where his property was,” Gagnet Leumas said.
Gagnet Leumas calls the crypts “sacred ground” and said the St. Louis Cathedral is a literal walking tour through history.