The Good Friday fire of seventeen eighty-eight destroyed eight hundred and fifty-six of eleven hundred buildings. Normally someone rings the church bells to alert the city. But on Good Friday, the bells stay silent. So nobody rang them.
Don Andres Almonester y Roxas — a Spanish notary who'd done very well for himself — paid to rebuild the cathedral, the Cabildo, the Presbytere, the hospital, and a school. Out of his own pocket. He's buried inside the cathedral he paid for.
Pere Antoine served as rector for thirty-six years. He baptized young Marie Laveau. When he died, every business in the city closed early.
— From the tour: Pirates, Presidents & Purchase Receipts
