Immaculate Conception Church
- Style
- Moorish / Mudéjar
- City
- New Orleans, LA
- Collection
- the french quarter
Immaculate Conception Church, known locally as the Jesuit Church, stands at 130 Baronne Street in the Central Business District. The current building, completed in 1930, is a near-duplicate of an 1857 church that once stood on the same site, originally designed by Fr. John Cambiaso, S.J.
the building
Rebuilt from a cracked foundation. In the late 1920s, construction of the neighboring Pere Marquette building damaged the original church's foundation so badly that its floor split in half. The congregation disassembled the building in 1928, laid new footings, and reconstructed it as a near-duplicate, reusing many fixtures from the original; the new church was dedicated March 2, 1930.
the style
The church is built in the Moorish Revival style, an unusual choice for a Catholic church in New Orleans, giving Immaculate Conception a silhouette distinct from the city's more common Gothic and Greek Revival churches.
More on Moorish / Mudéjarthe architect
The original 1857 church was designed by Fr. John Cambiaso, S.J., a Jesuit priest rather than a professional architect; the 1930 reconstruction closely followed his design.
significance
In November 2025, the Archdiocese of New Orleans placed the parish among more than 150 parishes and charities put into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of a settlement plan to resolve hundreds of sex-abuse lawsuits.
nearby
- Latter & Blum Building
- Shell Building
- Orpheum Theater
- Saenger Theatre
- Hancock Whitney Center
- Louisiana State Bank Building