The Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist in downtown Lafayette, LA stands as a sentinel to the faith of generations of followers. It is the third church built on the site donated by Jean Mouton in l821, when Lafayette was the town of Vermilionville. The present Dutch Romanesque landmark, completed in l916, is on the National Registry of Historic Properties. Massive brick walls contrast with graceful arches and delicate red and white brickwork. Turrets flank the octagonal steeple above, from which the bells toll.