Cabildo
4
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
About
A visit to New Orleans' historic French Quarter would not be complete without a stop at Jackson Square, which is where you will find the Cabildo. This elegant Spanish colonial building neighbors St. Louis Cathedral and houses many rare artifacts of America's history. Among them is Napoleon's death mask. It was made from a mold crafted by Dr. Francesco Antommarchi, who was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's physicians at the time of his death. The popular tricentennial exhibition "We Love You, New Orleans" gives a great overview of all there is to love about the city.
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Neighbourhood: French Quarter
A small and teeming network of laissez-faire living lounged out on the balmy banks of the Mighty Mississippi, the French Quarter has long been a port of call for folks in search of a good time and a great story. Perpetually inebriated Bourbon Street runs across its midriff like a strand of cheap ribbon tied around an otherwise rather pretty and impressively well-kept vintage dress. Throughout the rest of the Quarter, brightly colored Victorian homes and businesses, famously done up with wrought-iron features, provide a distinct and immediately recognizable backdrop for all varieties of fun. At any given moment in this historic riverside setting, some of America’s finest meals are being cooked, most potent cocktails are being mixed, and most engaging music is being performed.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
439 reviews
Excellent
178
Very good
180
Average
63
Poor
10
Terrible
8
amoskus
21 contributions
Oct 2023 • Family
Across from Jackson Square, this details history of the area with maps and interesting audio clips. Building itself has served many functions and is worth an hour or so.
Written 9 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stuart Beesley
St. Albans, UK544 contributions
Jul 2023 • Couples
It’s ok. Interesting if you like history, especially of the battles. Not really a lot there. It wasn’t for me. Has aircon….
Written 25 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dothebrittany
Walker, LA45 contributions
Aug 2022 • Family
This was a great place to learn about history and tour when in New Orleans. We visited with our two kids and they enjoyed it as well.
Written 29 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Eugenio H
2 contributions
Mar 2023
Simone and Harold with The Friends of the Cabildo gave my students a great tour. A+ tour guides. They answered all of their questions and were age appropriate.
Written 16 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alan H
Toronto, Canada182 contributions
Feb 2023
"Cabildo" is a Spanish word deriving from the Latin "capitulum," which in church Latin was used for a "cathedral chapter" or council of clergy. In Latin America it was used for a municipal council. Accordingly, in New Orleans, in the period when it came under Spanish rule, the word was used for the town government, and for the building in which it functioned. The Cabildo was built in the 1790s on the town square, now Jackson Square, along with other important buildings, notably the Roman Catholic cathedral (which is next door). After Louisiana territory was purchased by the USA, the building served for a while as the state Supreme Court building. In 1908 it became a museum. The building itself is therefore historic, although because of a serious fire in 1988 most of what you can see now is new or restored.
The Cabildo now houses an exhibition of New Orleans history on its first two floors, and a changing exhibition on its third floor. If you like history, as I do, you'll find the history of New Orleans very interesting; it's a city of diverse historical traditions and populations: Indigenous, French, Spanish, American settlers, slaves, free coloured, Creole, Cajun. The history is told here with a lot of explanatory panels, pictures and maps and artifacts, and a couple of short videos. (We had visited the Tennessee State Museum a few days earlier, which is quite modern and pretty high-tech; by comparison, the presentation here is old-school.) On the third floor, while we were there, was an exhibition of paintings by a local artist, Andrew LaMar Hopkins.
The history-telling itself is a bit old-school as well. After the Louisiana Purchase, the museum centres on white anglophone settler secular culture, with quite little about Indigenous, slave, or Cajun culture, or about church influence. As one example, I was struck with this presentation of the War of 1812: "In June 1812 the United States declared war on Great Britain to end [...] British attempts to incite Native Americans." The picture seems to be that Native Americans would have been okay on being displaced from their land by American militias, squatters, and land developers, except that they were manipulated by the British into being hostile. In reality, Native Americans were less simple than this suggests, and the motives of the U.S. government weren't quite as noble and innocent.
The Cabildo now houses an exhibition of New Orleans history on its first two floors, and a changing exhibition on its third floor. If you like history, as I do, you'll find the history of New Orleans very interesting; it's a city of diverse historical traditions and populations: Indigenous, French, Spanish, American settlers, slaves, free coloured, Creole, Cajun. The history is told here with a lot of explanatory panels, pictures and maps and artifacts, and a couple of short videos. (We had visited the Tennessee State Museum a few days earlier, which is quite modern and pretty high-tech; by comparison, the presentation here is old-school.) On the third floor, while we were there, was an exhibition of paintings by a local artist, Andrew LaMar Hopkins.
The history-telling itself is a bit old-school as well. After the Louisiana Purchase, the museum centres on white anglophone settler secular culture, with quite little about Indigenous, slave, or Cajun culture, or about church influence. As one example, I was struck with this presentation of the War of 1812: "In June 1812 the United States declared war on Great Britain to end [...] British attempts to incite Native Americans." The picture seems to be that Native Americans would have been okay on being displaced from their land by American militias, squatters, and land developers, except that they were manipulated by the British into being hostile. In reality, Native Americans were less simple than this suggests, and the motives of the U.S. government weren't quite as noble and innocent.
Written 26 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Don
Roswell, GA31 contributions
Jan 2023 • Friends
Nice museum on Jackson Square, while it very close to Bourbon St.-the ambiance is understated. Definitely a good stop for a quick tour of New Orleans
Written 17 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rachel
Gold Coast, Australia433 contributions
Jan 2023
Great museum to learn about the history of New Orleans. Excellent volunteers, one of which was an older gentleman who told us some fabulous stories about some of the works on display. Great convenient location in Jackson Square that doesn’t require a lot of time to visit. We received a discount as were also visiting the Presbytere.
Written 18 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wm C
Sioux Falls, SD52 contributions
Nov 2022
There were definitely some interesting items in the museum but the displays seemed tired and in need of updating. The highlight was the section on the Battle of New Orleans. I could have done without the exhibit on dresses.
Written 18 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
tedlong29
Gulf Breeze, FL1,970 contributions
Jul 2022
Such a wonderful museum to visit in New Orleans. Great artifacts and fascinating history of this amazing city. If you are visiting the area I highly suggest making this a must on your list of things to do.
Written 8 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thekansaspyet
Middletown, CT725 contributions
Mar 2022
The Cabildo is a large building, with exhibits spaced widely apart through out. We enjoyed the sense of history in the building. The 3rd floor has a room of photographs of people and places in and near New Orleans that were most interesting. We enjoyed the front of the building on the 2nd and 3rd floors. By looking out the windows, one could see elevated views of Jackson Square, the iron-grillworked shops on both sides and even ships on the Mississippi.
Written 6 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mike B
San Jose, CA275 contributions
How much time would you allow to see the museum?
My apologies for the late response as we did not see the message until now.
Since the museum is self paced, it is hard to say, but most people spend about 2 hours. There are exhibitions on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor of the main building and there are smaller exhibitions in the Arsenal on two floors. All of this is contained in the one entrance fee for the museum.
Tx2rist
Houston, TX
Is there a gift shop? Does it sell books for children?
Marvin M
Baton Rouge, LA
Hi, Thank you so much for your interest in the Cabildo. While the Cabildo does not have a gift shop, the 1850 House Museum does!
The 1850 House museum is in the Lower Pontalba building on Jackson Square only steps away from the Cabildo and it does sell books for children. The gift store is operated by the Friends of the Cabildo.
How much time should we spend in this museum?
eringall4
Fort Gratiot, MI19 contributions
I think you could spend 3 hours and really take your time or just move quickly through and not read every little thing for about an hour.
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Claim your listingCABILDO: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)
Frequently Asked Questions about Cabildo
- According to Tripadvisor travellers, these are the best ways to experience Cabildo:
- New Orleans Sightseeing City Tour (From S$63.11)
- New Orleans Killers and Thrillers Tour (From S$46.68)
- French Quarter & Marigny Neighborhood Carriage Ride (From S$93.39)
- Go City: New Orleans All-Inclusive Pass with 25+ Attractions (From S$92.06)
- New Orleans French Quarter Architecture Walking Tour (From S$46.70)
- Hotels near Cabildo:
- (0.13 km) Place d'Armes Hotel
- (0.15 km) Bourbon Orleans Hotel
- (0.23 km) French Market Inn
- (0.23 km) Omni Royal Orleans
- (0.15 km) Nola Vacation French Quarter Destination
- Restaurants near Cabildo:
- (0.02 km) Cafe Pontalba
- (0.02 km) Tableau
- (0.05 km) Sylvain
- (0.06 km) Pirates Alley Cafe
- (0.16 km) Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar and Bistro