The Old Ursuline Convent, the second convent on the present site, is the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley.  The convent was authorized by King Louis XV of France in 1745 and completed in 1752 or 1753.  Over the past two and a half centuries, the building has not only served as a convent for the Ursulines, but also as the archbishop’s residence, the archdiocesan administration building and chancery, a Catholic boys’ school and a public school, the seat of the Louisiana legislature, the resident of the Oblate Fathers serving the Italian community and the archdiocesan archives.  The adjoining St. Mary’s Church dates from 1845.

 As the oldest surviving example of the French colonial period in the United States, the building is known as the “treasure of the archdiocese.”

The Old Ursuline Convent is located at 1100 Chartres Street in the historic French Quarter.