Louisiana State Museum – The Presbytère

A wonderful, low cost way to spend a few hours in Jackson Square.
I was so moved by the Katrina exhibit and it brings back many emotions even experiencing the devastation from afar. The testimonials of the victims from all walks of life will really give you a feeling for what folks went throw and how terrifying the whole thing was from start to cleanup.
Upstairs you can get a taste of the history of Mardi Gras and the fantastic costumes. So many beautiful feathery, bejeweled goodies. I can’t imagine a little girl who wouldn’t love walking through these exhibits! I wanted to try every one of the amazing outfits on – especially the crowns.
We lingered upstairs in an empty room overlooking the square for some time as a violinist was playing with a baby in a carrier on her back. She was amazing! Be sure and check out the window to see who is performing for the day as you might catch a quite amazing experience.

For a six dollar fee, this cannot be beat! Set aside at least 1.5÷2 hours for this activity.
The Katrina exhibit will put chills across your neck and tears in your eyes. The exhibit is interactive and very informative. I was especially impressed that there was a large section dedicated to educating people about the levee systems!
The Mardi Gras exhibit was just as impressive as the Katrina. There are Mardi Gras artifacts and even a ‘Port-​o-​potty’ wall with real restrooms behind the doors; very creative! The sheer amount of crowns a scepters, some of which date back to the late 1800’s, was awe-​inspiring.
Also: The view of Jackson Square you get while on the second floor of the Presbytere is second to none!

This is a very nice & affordable Museum. The honor a AAA discount and is centrally located in the middle of the Quarter behind Jackson Square. I can’t believe how many times I have passed this gem up while in NOLA. This is a great experience for all ages.

Thoroughly enjoyed the Hurricane Katrina museum. Well done. Very touching.

We decided to stop here one day on our visit to New Orleans to check it out. Admission is very inexpensive and you get to cover a whole lot in this big building. This is main portion of a multipart museum as they have other sections of this museum in other parts of the French quarter from what we were told.
One of the most significant exhibits is that Hurricane Katrina exhibit (Downstairs). They walk you through every step of what happened during this tragic event with diagrammatic examples and videos even a windy room with footage of the actual hurricane destroying the streets/​homes for dramatic effect. I was interested in the part that showed the new engineering of the levees they added after this tragic event.
One of the other exhibits is there Mardi Gras exhibit (Upstairs). This features all aspects of the Mardi Gras event from the history to the different parades to the different regions which celebrate this including the Cajun style Mardi Gras’s in the swamp. They take the Mardi Gras event severely seriously (They are a very play hard culture). There were very interesting facts that I didn’t even know.
The visit here was worth it!

Great Katrina exhibit that shows how the disaster happened and the aftermath. This storm is such a huge part of the culture in New Orleans that you need to understand the history and government response to the disaster. This is a must see for anyone visiting New Orleans.

We (Europeans) went there to see the «Katrina/​Rita» exhibition called «living the Hurricanes».
For the USD6 entrance fee this was an excellent 45 — 60min educational trip on understanding what caused this disaster, what quarters were affected by it and how the people/​authorities reacted in the aftermath.
Exhibition includes live models on what sort of levees prevent such catastrophes (and which ones don’t) as well as interactive screens showing the various types of floods that can incur. It also includes a very interesting section with people talking about how they experienced the storms and the surrealistic situations afterwards. Very informative.
If you want to have a better understanding on the Katrina/​Rita disaster this is the exhibition to see.
Very recommendable

I wanted to see the Katrina exhibit. The details were very good and there was a lot of information, but the whole situation made me very angry when it happened and seeing some of the information and exhibits brought that anger back. The Mardi Gras exhibit was really good and I loved all the history and information. A good recovery from the Katrina exhibit.

There is a memorial for Katrina, which I will admit, brought some emotions to the foreground for me. Hearing the stories of every day heroes, the first responders, and the newscaster speaking was touching and you could feel the heartache the survivors felt. The Mardi Gras museum was upstairs and it was filled with costumes, designs, and jewels were incredible to see.

Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. Great exhibits — Hurricane Katrina and Mardi Gras, plus a super price to visit. We loved every minute visiting this historic building and it’s contents. Don’t miss!

Unlike the Cabildo which is a permanent exhibit about New Orleans history, the Presbytere offers traveling exhibits. The two exhibits there last week when I visited were the Katrina Exhibit on the first floor and the Mardi Gras Exhibit on the second floor. Both were very good. The Katrina exhibit has been there for several years and is scheduled to be replaced soon. I found it to be a. fascinating history of the event and very well done. The Mardi Gras exhibit will interest anyone about the world’s biggest free party. Come here and enjoy at least one hour of interesting, educational and thoughtful information about both subjects.
Be sure to buy a combo ticket for less than $ 10 for an adult that will also let you visit the Cabildo museum too. They are both worth that small amount of money and the approximately 2 hours to visit both. Also pop in the free St. Louis Cathedral which is in between both museums for a look see.

The $ 6 spent here for a ticket is well worth it. We started on the first floor with the Katrina exhibit, which is what drew us to the museum. It was informative, touching and utilized multimedia in many forms as well as relics donated by residents and first responders to tell the story of the devastating hurricane and floods that followed. It was pretty emotional to walk through, even though I didn’t know anyone affected by this disaster. However, I remember watching the constant news coverage for days, and getting a refresher of all the death and suffering that ensued led to my being choked up while touring the exhibit.
After that it was nice to go to the second floor for the Mardi Gras exhibit and lighten the mood. I’ve never been, nor do I really have a desire to visit the city during the festival, but I did enjoy the exhibits of costumes, crowns & scepters, floats and masks.
This is a very nice museum with great exhibits for a nominal price.

We visited this museum last month and loved it! It’s located in Jackson Square right in the French Quarter. Don’t forget to stop and get some beignets beforehand at Café Du Monde. just sayin’. Anyway, the Presbytere was awesome. The tickets are very cheap, $ 6 adults, $ 5 with student ID, and kids are free. When you walk in, the first exhibit is all about Hurricane Katrina and what went down during that time. Very sad and educational. That pretty much is the whole first floor of the museum. On the second floor, it’s a lot more cheerful and bright. It’s all about Mardi Gras and the liveliness of the city. They have costumes, crowns, and so much to look at. This place is definitely worth visiting if you’re in town. It’s also a great way to work up an appetite for a delicious cajun lunch in the French Quarter.

Enjoyed the museum … Cheap entry … Spend a great deal of time looking at the Katrina devastation it is very well done. Mardi Gras was also great

We were greeted by a very friendly lady and she helped us by tickets to all of the local museums for 20% off! They also have military, student and a few other discounts which made it a lot more affordable.
She went on to explain that the entire downstairs is about hurricane Katrina and the top floor is about Mardi Gras, Lundi Gras and Carnival.
I found the Katrina exhibit to be very interactive and moving. I got so emotional that I almost cried. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since then.
The carnival/​mardi/​Lundi gras (if you’ve never heard of Lundi Gras then you’d better pay attention upstairs!) areas were very informative and interesting. What a fun way to end a trip to the museum.

I didn’t know how I was going to feel about going to see this museum that features Hurricane Katrina. It also features Mardi Gras. I was afraid of it to be honest with you. I must confess, I’m really glad that I went. It was definitely an eye-​opening experience and it reminded me of how giving and caring most people are to others in a crises. I thought I would have enjoyed the later part of the museum since its happier but it was the Hurricane Katrina that touched me and left a lasting impression upon me. I urge anyone who’s going to be in NOLA to definitely see it. The one that touched my heart the most was the pair of jeans a husband donated to the museum. He stayed behind to close his store properly. His wife and family were safe at another place. His only means of transportation was his bicycle. Water was everywhere and he wasn’t sure he’d make it back to his wife. He took a pen and wrote his name, his d.o.b., wife’s name, her cell phone number and his s.s. # on his pants for identification. He really thought he was going to die. Happily we see it was he who donated his pants so we know he made it and he’s alive. I stood there crying happy tears. My husband and I quietly stood there holding hands for a long while and then told each other we love each other.
The Mardi Gras was interesting but the impact of the premier left a bigger impact.

This was an unexpected gem. My fiancé and I visit a lot of museums when we travel, and this is on the top of our list. This was after a pretty disappointing trip to The Cabildo (which was really very boring.)
The Presbytere has two main exhibits: one on hurricanes that have hit New Orleans, with an emphasis on Katrina. The second is a history of Mardi Gras. Both were great, great, great. The hurricane exhibit had us both in tears at one point.
GO TO THIS MUSEUM. But you can skip The Cabildo, unless you like reading tons of placards with historic information on them.

The Katrina exhibit deserves awards! Magnificent detail and immersion — uses video and first-​person accounts to describe so many aspects of the chaos and mishaps that compounded to cause disaster, and the heroic rescue effort that followed.

Great, affordable museum in the heart of the French Quarter.
We went to the Presbytere as part of a package deal with the nearby Cabildo, a separate part of the Louisiana State Museum. For both of these put together the price (without discount, we got a 20% student discount) is $ 10.
We went to this museum first, where we were greeted by a very polite employee and purchased our tickets. I agree with Jo M’s review that the Presbytere is slightly more interesting than the Cabildo — it is more interactive and even those with a lesser interest in history (no accounting for taste) will enjoy the experience.
Even so, with the combo ticket price being so affordable, if you have time and a predilection for history and/​or museums, do both!
The museum has two main parts — (1) a first floor Katrina exhibit and (2) a Mardi Gras exhibit on the second floor.
The Katrina exhibit is absolutely essential viewing to get a feel for just how devastating the hurricane was on the this city. It is also leaves one appreciating the determination of those who chose to return and and refused to let the music die. As someone with an interest in maps and geography, I appreciated the bird’s eye view of the flooding providing in a narrated video in one room as well as the dioramas and explanations of the levy system which failed so dramatically.
The museum also offers a more emotional, personal perspective, with many recordings of Gulf Coast people sharing their disaster and survival stories. There is also an early room which attempts to recreate the feel of a hurricane with numerous fans and raw video from the storm on wide screen. As someone who has ridden out a couple Category 2s in my Gulf Coast hometown, it actually did a pretty good job of capturing the thrilling (and terrible) chaos of watching the wind tear your town apart. More immediately, however, the fans provided a welcome respite from a humid December day.
In short, the Katrina exhibit comes highly recommend. I’m not sure you’ll find its equal anywhere.
The Mardi Gras exhibit was slightly less exciting to me, but also allowed me to feel I could avoid a trip to the $ 16 per person Mardi Gras World up the way. I guess the only thing I missed out on were the floats, as the Presbytere had none. Even so, there were beautiful, feathery costumes aplenty, and a lot of context provided on the historical origins and cultural prominence of the Mardi Gras tradition in French Catholic New Orleans and beyond. There was also a room about the Courir de Mardi Gras one finds in Cajun Louisiana and that was recently an important plot point in HBO’s True Detective season one.
The bottom line: If you have to choose between the Cabildo and the Presbytere, go to the latter. But really, if you are interested in something besides the Bourbon Street scene (or just need a break from it) then you would do well to visit both museums for what is a bargain price and a great way to spend half a day in the air conditioning and near to clean restrooms.

This museum features a Hurricane Katrina exhibit downstairs and a Mardi Gras exhibit upstairs. The exhibits were pretty detailed. The Mardi Gras exhibit includes a lot of history regarding Mardi Gras along with various costumes that were worn. The Hurricane Katrina exhibit included a lot of video logs, with accounts of those who survived Katrina as well as details regarding it’s coming to New Orleans.

The Presbytere is situated on the back side of Jackson Square to the right of St. Louis Cathedral and should be on EVERY visitors ‘to-​do’ list when visiting New Orleans. (I am not proud to say that I haven’t been here since grade school, until recently.) This place is very affordable and VERY informative about some of the things that people automatically think of when they hear ‘New Orleans’, Mardi Gras & Hurricane Katrina.
Due to some poor time management on my part, we had to race through most of the museum before they closed (we spent too much time at the Cabildo down the block, another MUST DO). After a few moments in the Katrina exhibit my PTSD started to kick in and I was HAPPY to race out of that flash-​back, if you haven’t lived through it I am SURE it is fascinating stuff! We slowed down a bit as we wandered through the much lighter Mardi Gras exhibit on the second floor. It was all so good.
They have captured so much in this museum. The beauty and the tragedy that is our collective history. All wonderfully displayed and very educational at the same time. GO!

The Presbytere is part of the Louisiana State Museum that features Mardi Gras and Hurricane Katrina exhibits in the building. The Katrina exhibit is on the lower floor and uses multimedia and artifacts to document the disaster and that dark times that followed. The Mardi Gras exhibit is on the upper floor and has a lot of costumes and artifacts documenting the history and traditions of the celebration in New Orleans along with a special section focusing on traditions in rural areas. If you’re looking at the front of St. Louis Cathedral the Cabildo is to the right of the church. The Mardi Gras museum has been a favorite of folks I’ve brought to the Presbytere.
Admission:
Adults $ 6
Students, Senior Citizens, Active Military $ 5
Children 12 and under Free
Groups of 15 or more w/​reservations 20% discount
School groups w/​reservations Free
Purchase tickets for two or more museums 20% discount
AAA membership discount, with card 10% discount

The two main exhibits when I was here cover the two things NOLA is known for: Hurricane Katrina and Mardi Gras. The Katrina exhibit, especially, was very well-​done. My favorite part was the interviews with people who lived through it – everyday citizens, first responders, medical workers, officials directing rescue operations. This really gave an overview of the myriad issues that arose, especially in the aftermath of the storm. There was also a section on the science of hurricanes and how they form.
The Mardi Gras section was also interesting, and a nice distraction after the seriousness of the Katrina exhibit. I especially liked the costumes and accoutrements from the first part of the 20^th century.

Holy crap this place is intense.
The entire first floor is about Hurricane Katrina. You’ll learn a lot about the history of the region and why the city experiences such natural disasters. There are many displays on what happened before, during, and after the event, from multiple perspectives. The bulk of it shows the stories of people in the city, and near the end you can see a more scientific approach to examining the event.
On the upper level, you’ll see an entirely different side to New Orleans — Mardi Gras. The exhibit here is a major contrast to what can be seen on the floor below.
You can easily spend more than an hour here and it’s worth taking the time to check out while you’re in the French Quarter. You’ll learn a lot about the city and two major events which define its history and culture.