Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

The parish has stood since 1728, making it one of the oldest Catholic congregations in Louisiana. This building is the seventh to shelter it. Five predecessors were destroyed by fire or storm. Natchitoches itself was founded in 1714 as a French trading post on the Red River, the oldest permanent European settlement within the borders of the Louisiana Purchase. Early settlers were French Catholic immigrants and creoles, their faith as old as the colonial outpost. Construction on the current basilica began in 1857. The Civil War halted it in 1861. Work resumed after the war and wasn't finished until roughly 1905—nearly half a century from cornerstone to completion. During the Civil War, Union soldiers retreating through town after their failed attempt to capture Shreveport set fire to Natchitoches. Confederate cavalry pursued the fleeing soldiers and arrived in time to help extinguish the flames before the town was destroyed. The basilica survived that fire and the decades of interrupted construction that followed. Pope Benedict XVI elevated it to Minor Basilica in 2009. The church is open daily for self-guided visits. Mass schedule at minorbasilica.org.