Entry No. 30 — the New Orleans file — filed under: haunted
St. Roch Chapel and Ex-Voto Room
Inside this 1870s shrine, built after a priest's congregation survived yellow fever, a small side room sits behind an iron gate with brick floors and peeling walls. Generations of the faithful have left plaster and plastic body parts as thanks for healings: feet, hands, hearts, brains, plus polio leg braces, glass eyes, dental plates, and oddities like a can of corn and a small Ronald McDonald doll. During a recent restoration the room was deliberately left untouched, dust and all, so the offerings remain exactly as the cured left them.
The story
In 1867, yellow fever was ripping through New Orleans. Father Peter Leonard Thevis, a German immigrant pastor at Holy Trinity Church, made a desperate pact: he prayed to St. Roch—the patron saint invoked against plague and contagion—promising to build a shrine if his parish was spared. Not a single member of his congregation died in the epidemic. Thevis kept his word, establishing St. Roch Cemetery No. 1 in 1874 and dedicating the Gothic chapel inside it in 1875.
While the central sanctuary features standard altar statuary, the real reason you come sits tucked behind an iron gate in a small side room. This is the ex-voto room, a brick-floored chamber with peeling walls holding a century's worth of physical thanks. Visitors cured of ailments—or begging for relief—have left plaster hands, ceramic feet, hearts, and miniature brains. Hanging alongside these carved body parts are actual relics of human suffering: rusty polio leg braces, glass eyes, and yellowing dental plates.
It isn't just antique relics, either. Tucked among the cast limbs are recent additions that lean toward the surreal, including a small Ronald McDonald doll, a can of corn, and written notes pinned near the altar. When the local archdiocese undertook a restoration of St. Roch Chapel, they explicitly chose to leave this room untouched. The dust, the grime, and the exact placement of every offering were preserved exactly as the cured abandoned them.
What it's like
Head to St. Roch Cemetery No. 1 on St. Roch Avenue and walk toward the Gothic chapel standing among the whitewashed above-ground tombs. You can only get inside the ex-voto side room if the chapel's main front doors are unlocked, which hinges on cemetery staff and notoriously limited operating hours. Inside, the space is silent, dusty, and smells of dry brick. Treat it like the active sacred site it is—step quietly, don't touch the plaster organs, and take time to read the handwritten petitions jammed into the ironwork.
The move: Step quietly into the ex-voto room together and read the cast-off braces and ceramic hearts as a wall of strangers' miracles.
📍 Before you go It is an active cemetery with limited hours; the ex-voto room is only open when the chapel is unlocked, so check timing before going.
- 📍 St. Roch / Faubourg Marigny
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 1725 St. Roch Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117
Hours: Added 2026-06-22 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Island of Salvation Botanica — Located just half a mile away, this working Vodou botanica complements St. Roch's Catholic healing shrine with another side of New Orleans' spiritual traditions.
- The Bywater Museum of Unnatural History — A short walk away in the Marigny, this tiny cabinet of curiosities pairs private taxidermy oddities with the chapel's shrine of anatomical offerings.
- New Orleans Pharmacy Museum — Pair the faith-based miracle cures of St. Roch with the grim 19th-century medical instruments housed inside America's first licensed apothecary.
Good to know
What is an ex-voto?
An ex-voto (from the Latin phrase meaning 'from the vow made') is a devotional offering placed at a shrine to fulfill a promise or give thanks for a saint's miraculous healing, often taking the shape of the restored body part.
How much does it cost to visit?
Admission to St. Roch Cemetery No. 1 and the chapel is free, though access depends on whether the cemetery gates are open.
Who was St. Roch?
St. Roch is a 14th-century Catholic saint invoked as a protector against plagues, epidemics, and skin diseases.
How do I make sure the chapel and ex-voto room are open?
The ex-voto room can only be viewed when the chapel doors are unlocked. Because cemetery hours are short and subject to change without notice, you should confirm current cemetery opening hours before heading over.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Atlas Obscura · mavcor.yale.edu · prcno.org · nolacatholiccemeteries.org
last checked: 2026-06-22