St Louis Cathedral

St. Louis Cathedral is the Roman Catholic seat of the Bishop of Port-Louis.  Several churches have been built in succession at this location.  Between 1752 and 1756, Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny (1736-1809) built the first, which soon fell apart due to a cyclone in 1760.  A new church collapsed on 9 April 1773, due to another cyclone.  A further reconstruction in 1782 soon ended in collapse.   Subsequently, the building was restored in 1814 by Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar (1776-1830), the first British Governor, until the same recurring structural problems reappeared in 1819.  Bishop Jacques Leen (1888-1949) rebuilt the structure between 1930 and 1933, and a final restoration was completed in 2007. The cathedral itself was founded in 1933 and is the most popular religious building on the island.  The building is in the Gothic style.