Ursuline Convent

French Quarter


One of the few surviving French Colonial buildings in New Orleans, this lovely convent is worth a tour for its architectural virtues and its small museum of Catholic bric-a-brac. After a five-month voyage from Rouen, France, 12 Ursuline nuns arrived in New Orleans in 1727. The Ursuline had a missionary bent, but achieved their goals through advancing the literacy rate of women of all races and social levels; their school admitted French, Native American and African American girls.


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