St. Roch Cemetery #1

-The St. Roch Chapel remains closed to the public as we finalize its restoration.

1725 St Roch Avenue
Office: 3421 Esplanade Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70119
Office open M - Th - 8:00 am to 4:15 pm
Friday 8:00 to 4:00 

504-482-5065
504-304-0576 
504-313-1127 (fax)
sladner@arch-no.org 
 

Keep in mind:

• Bike tours and other motorized bike/vehicle tours are prohibited in our Catholic Cemeteries
• All of our Catholic Cemeteries are closed on Mardi Gras Day.  Gates close early on the Saturday before Mardi Gras due to the Endymion parade.
• No alcohol or food permitted
• Only certified Service animals are permitted in the cemetery

• 2St. Roch Cemeteries 1 & 2, established in 1874.  St. Roch Cemetery No. 1 was initially established in 1874 by Rev. Peter Leonard Thevis (1837-1893), pastor of Holy Trinity Church (currently the Marigny Opera House), to serve his predominately German congregation. The name Campo Santo was given to the cemetery as a nod to the Campo Santo dei Tedeschi, a cemetery, church, and hospice for Germans located on the south side of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Though different in design, St. Roch Cemetery No. 1 and Campo Santo dei Tedeschi each contain the 14 Stations of the Cross. Today, the Way of the Cross in St. Roch Cemetery No. 1 is depicted with statuary carved in Italy by the workshop of Italian sculptor Enrico Arrighini and donated by individuals, families, and religious organizations. The statues were installed in 1948, replacing the originals that were carved in low relief on wood and later versions made of terra cotta and some depicted in lithographs.
  
  On September 6, 1875, St. Roch Cemetery No. 1 was dedicated and the cornerstone of the Gothic-style St. Roch Chapel was laid. The chapel, which marks the center of the cemetery, was designed and constructed by Rev. Thevis in an act of gratitude for the intercession of St. Roch in protecting his congregation during the yellow fever epidemic of 1867. Through the years the mortuary chapel has gained a reputation as a place of healing and has become a pilgrimage site for those in ill health and for those seeking spiritual consolation. For much of the chapel’s history, ex-votos have been left inside by the faithful in appreciation for the intercession of St. Roch. These offerings take a wide variety of forms including plaster casts of once afflicted but now healed body parts and carved tokens inscribed with words of thanks.
   
  On August 16, 1876, the feast day of St. Roch, the chapel was formally dedicated, and the first Mass was offered shortly afterwards on All Soul’s Day, November 2, 1876, by Rev. Thevis. With the chapel as the focal point, masonry tombs were initially constructed bordering the center alley, at first in-ground graves marked by wooden crosses and simple memorials were most prevalent.
  
  In an effort to have St. Roch Cemetery No. 1 continue to grow as planned, with masonry monuments arranged neatly upon dedicated alleys, St. Roch Cemetery No. 2 was fenced in and opened up for single, in-ground grave use in around 1879. The square occupied by St. Roch Cemetery No. 2 was part of the Rev. Thevis’s initial land purchase in 1874 and fell under the same city permit issuing permission for cemetery use.
  
  In 1890, Rev. Thevis decided to erect a mortuary chapel in St. Roch Cemetery No. 2, dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, and to lay out the grounds in a symmetrical plan. By the summer of 1891, most of the brickwork on the new chapel had been completed and plans for its ornamentation were in place, including the wish for two skilled Carmelite monks to create the interior frescos. Unfortunately, Rev. Thevis did not live to see the second chapel completed. In August of 1893, he passed away after a brief illness caused by a skin infection. His dedicated parishioners carried out his last wishes and his body was interred beneath the marble floor of the center aisle, at the foot of the altar, within St. Roch Chapel.
  
              Following the death of Rev. Thevis, his successor continued with the formalization of the plan of St. Roch Cemetery No. 2, and in overseeing the completion of the Chapel of St. Michael. A Mr. Brooks drew up the plan for the cemetery and the land was graded in the autumn of 1893. The construction of St. Michael’s Chapel was completed in 1895. Later, in the 20th century, the chapel was converted into St. Michael's Chapel Mausoleum.
  
              Since their early years both cemeteries have gone through significant changes and past and present efforts to restore both chapels have taken place. In 2002, the St. Roch Chapel was designated a local Historic Landmark by the New Orleans Historic District Landmark Commission because of its architectural and historical significance.  New Orleans Catholic Cemeteries is currently in the final phase of a full restoration of St. Roch Chapel, which functions as the National Shrine of St. Roch, in order to preserve its historic integrity and safeguard its future. Upon completion of the work the chapel will be reopened for visitation.