St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Cathedral in Alexandria, United States

St. Francis Xavier Cathedral is a Gothic Revival brick church designed by Nicholas J. Clayton, dedicated in 1899 as the first brick church in Alexandria. A belfry added in 1907 carries a clock installed in 1908. Inside, its rose windows are the largest in Louisiana, and a 3-manual, 48-rank Reuter pipe organ was inaugurated in 2004.

The parish of St. Francis was built in 1817 and was the only building in Alexandria spared during the Civil War, after Father J. P. Bellier imitated General Nathaniel Banks's voice to order Union troops to leave it standing. It burned in 1895; the foundation stone of the new church was laid on 3 December 1895, and Nicholas J. Clayton's Gothic Revival design was dedicated on 30 November 1899. A belfry followed in 1907 and a clock in 1908, and on 6 August 1910 Pius X made it a cathedral.

The cathedral's name honours St. Francis Xavier, and the parish it grew from was founded in 1817. Its rose windows are the largest in Louisiana, and a 3-manual, 48-rank Reuter pipe organ was inaugurated in 2004. The complex, with St. Francis Academy (1897) and the rectory (1896, renovated 1930), was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 29 March 1984.

The cathedral stands at 1130 Fourth Street in downtown Alexandria, part of a historic complex with St. Francis Academy (1897) and the rectory (1896, renovated 1930). Look for the 1907 belfry and the 1908 clock on the exterior. The rose windows are the largest in Louisiana, and the Reuter pipe organ, a 3-manual, 48-rank instrument, was inaugurated in 2004.

The rose windows of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral are the largest in Louisiana. The church also holds a three-manual, 48-rank Reuter pipe organ inaugurated in 2004, and its belfry, added in 1907, carries a clock installed in 1908.