Museums

Two key elements that make New Orleans so lovable are its unique heritage and artistic proliferation. And while much of the town's extraordinary culture can be experienced on the streets, there is plenty more to this place that cannot. So, it is off to the museums and historical houses to obtain true New Orleans knowledge.

One museum that should not be ignored is the Cabildo, located at Jackson Square. Now, it isn’t easy to turn your attention away from the fabulous street musicians and other performers that entertain countless visitors each day in the courtyard directly in front of the Cabildo, but, even if you can just slip in the museum for an hour or two, you’ll find that it is well worth the sacrifice. Built in the 1790s to house the Spanish Council, the museum is one of the state’s most important buildings, as transfer papers for the Louisiana Purchase were signed here in 1803. Currently, the Cabildo contains important documents and artifacts pertaining to Louisiana’s multicultural history. There is also a death mask of Napoleon here, one of only three in the world!

Also located at Jackson Square is the 1850 House, which is situated inside the lower Pantalba Building at 523 St. Ann Street. The house gives visitors a chance to see how upper-class Creoles lived in the 19^th century, featuring canopied beds and other antique furniture.

Other interesting historical houses include the Herman Grima House (built in 1831), located on the corner of St. Louis and Bourbon Streets; and the Gallier House on Royal Street, a beautifully restored building dating from 1857.

Of course, what is New Orleans without its voodoo culture? Folks can get an excellent introduction to this intriguing practice by visiting the Historic Voodoo Museum on Dumaine Street. Very eerie and enigmatic, this small museum displays voodoo potions, dolls, and other such memorabilia -- many of which are related to the 19^th-century voodoo queen Marie Laveau.

For art lovers, the New Orleans Museum of Art, now tripled in size after a $23 million renovation in 1994, provides for an excellent afternoon of art-gazing and aesthetic entertainment. The museum attracts a variety of international and touring exhibitions and today it houses 40,000 works of art, ranging from pre-Columbian and Native American art, to 16^th-through 20^th-century European, Asian and American paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and more.

A different sort of museum, yet just as interesting is the Musee Conti Wax Museum, located on Conti Street. The museum displays life-like wax figures of “Louisiana Legends,” which includes everyone from La Salle to Andrew Jackson to Marie Laveau.  – Michael Rando