Louisiana Superdome

Lonely Planet review

Hovering like a giant, bronze-tinted hubcap amidst the CBD skyscrapers the Superdome is one of New Orleans' most easily recognized structures. The immense indoor stadium, with its sophisticated climate control system has hosted six Superbowls, numerous presidential conventions, a 1981 Rolling Stones concert, and even an address in 1987 by Pope Paul II. Each year on New Years Day, the Sugar Bowl is played here and the New Orleans Saints play their home games in the Superdome each fall.

It is built on top of an ancient burial ground, and some say unhappy spirits have cursed the Saints - how else to explain the team's miserable performance for much of its 40 year history?

The Superdome gained regrettable notoriety in 2005 when it was designated a 'refuge of last resort' during Hurricane Katrina. Some 20,000-30,000 people huddled under the dome as Katrina's winds blew away part of the roof. Power went out and food and water supplies were quickly depleted as the refugees lived in squalor (and at least one person died) while waited nearly a week for buses to arrive and take them out of the flooded city.