Cathedral of Saint-Louis

Neo-Byzantine iron cathedral rebuilt seven times after hurricanes and fires

The Cathedral of Saint-Louis towers over downtown Fort-de-France in a neo-Byzantine style built largely from iron — a practical choice for a building that has been destroyed six times before the current structure was completed in 1895. The architect Henri Pick used metal frame construction throughout, giving the cathedral a lightness unusual for a building of its size and making it more resistant to the earthquakes and hurricanes that had levelled every previous church on this site.

The interior is spacious and cool — welcome relief on a hot day — with stained glass windows along the nave filtering Caribbean light into the iron structure. The building is still the seat of the Archdiocese of Fort-de-France, and masses are well-attended. The cathedral's size and position a short walk from La Savane make it a natural stop on any walk through the downtown.

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A story
The current cathedral is the seventh structure to occupy the site — each of its predecessors was destroyed by hurricane, fire, or earthquake. The 1895 building that stands today was designed by the same Henri Pick who designed the Schoelcher Library, using a metal frame construction that could better resist the disasters that had levelled the wooden churches before it. The stained glass windows were installed one by one across the 20th century, each donated by a different parish.