St. Louis Cathedral
St. Louis Cathedral is the oldest continuously active Roman Catholic cathedral in the Mississippi Valley. It was named after the French saint, Saint Louis King of France. He was famous for leading the Crusades in the 1200s. The cathedral is the third building to stand on the present site. The first was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1788. The second building stood until 1853, when New Orleans became an archdiocese. Some of the stones from that building were used to build the present cathedral. Pope John Paul II visited this cathedral in 1987. The building is filled with beautiful paintings and stained glass windows.