St. Alphonsus Church, New Orleans

St. Alphonsus Church
Location 2029 Constance St., New Orleans, Louisiana
Coordinates 29°55′50″N 90°4′25″W / 29.93056°N 90.07361°W / 29.93056; -90.07361Coordinates: 29°55′50″N 90°4′25″W / 29.93056°N 90.07361°W / 29.93056; -90.07361
Area less than one acre
Built 1855
Architect Louis L. Long
Architectural style Italianate and Renaissance Revival, Late Victorian
NRHP Reference # 73000872
Significant dates
Added to NRHP May 22, 1973[1]
Designated NHL June 19, 1996[2]

St. Alphonsus Church (French: Église Saint-Alphonse) is a historic former church building at 2029 Constance Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Completed in 1857, it is one of the few surviving national examples of a richly multicolored church interior predating the 1870s, and a high quality example of ecclesiastical Italianate architecture It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996 for its architectural significance.[2][3] It is now home to the St. Alphonsus Art and Cultural Center.

Description and history

The former St. Alphonsus Church is located in the Garden District of New Orleans on the north side of Constance Street, between St. Andrew and Josephine Streets. It has a complex and richly-decorated symmetrical facade, with a central entrance area flanked by two square towers topped by crosses. The facade is ornamented with pilasters, corbelled brick panels, and niches in which statues are mounted. The interior is also richly ornamented, and has a coved plaster ceiling which have been painted with artwork by Dominique Canova. Its stained glass windows are Bavarian in origin, coming from F.X. Zettler. The floors are covered in mosaic tile.[3]

Completed in 1857, St. Alphonsus served as a Roman Catholic church for the Irish Catholic community of the Lower Garden District section of the city. (Other churches nearby served the Francophone and Germanic Catholic communities, including St. Mary's Assumption Church, the Roman Catholic Church built across the street for the German Catholic community). After church parishes were merged, St. Alphonsus was closed in 1979. In the 1980s it was taken over by a local community group, and now serves a community center.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. Alphonsus Church, New Orleans.

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "St. Alphonsus Church". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  3. 1 2 Jesse Poesch, Charles Tonnetti and Carolyn Pitts (May 12, 1995), National Historic Landmark Nomination: St. Alphonsus Church / St. Alphonsus Art & Cultural Center (pdf), National Park Service and Accompanying 16 photos, exterior and interior, from 1931, 1965, 1966, 1992, 1993 and undated. (4.66 MB)
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