3 Best Sights in New Orleans, Louisiana

This Greek Revival building, modeled on the Erechtheion of Athens, was built in 1845 by the architect James Gallier Sr. It served as City Hall in the mid-20th century and today hosts special events. It's the mayor's official perch during Carnival parades, where kings and queens of many krewes stop to be toasted by city officials and dignitaries. The grand rooms inside the hall are adorned with portraits and decorative details ordered by Gallier from Paris.

New York architect James Gamble Rogers designed this three-story granite structure as a post office and court building in 1909. It opened in 1915, but by the 1960s, the post office had moved to larger digs, leaving it open for McDonogh No. 35 High School to find refuge after Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Today, the Italian Renaissance Revival building houses the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in an elaborately paneled and ornamented series of three courtrooms, one of which, the En Banc courtroom, boasts a bronze glazed ceiling. The Great Hall's plaster ceiling has been restored to its original appearance and color, a light gray. As you enter the building and pass security, turn left and continue around the corner to find the library, where you can pick up information on the courthouse. Outside, a repeating sculpture of four women stands atop each corner of the building's penthouse level: the four ladies represent History, Agriculture, Industry, and the Arts. The building is named for Judge John Minor Wisdom, the New Orleans native who was instrumental in dismantling the segregation laws of the South. Judge Wisdom received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993.

The imposing building that takes up the whole block of Royal Street between St. Louis and Conti streets is the Old New Orleans Court, erected in 1908. Later, it became the office of the Wildlife and Fisheries agency. After years of vacancy and neglect, the magnificent edifice was restored and reopened in 2004 and is now the elegant home of the Louisiana Supreme Court. The public can visit the courthouse but must pass through security and cannot take photos inside.