Saint Martin De Tours Church

Cajuns call St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church the “Mother Church of the Acadians” for it was here in St. Martinville that the largest immigration of Acadians occurred in 1785. The church was established before the Acadian’s arrival, in 1765, and church records hail back even further. The current Gothic Revival structure was constructed around 1836 and is the center of the town’s square, where every building facing the church is of historic significance. Guided tours and Masses of St. Martin de Tours are routinely offered in both English and French. Next to the church is the cemetery where many of the town’s pioneers are buried and honored residents are memorialized. The most popular grave, however, is that of Emmeline Labiche, a woman separated from her lover, Louis Arceneaux, during the Acadian exile, according to Felix Voorhies, who wrote about Labiche’s story in “Acadian Reminiscences: The True Story of Evangeline.” Voorhies was convinced that Labiche’s story was the genesis for Longfellow’s Evangeline and wanted to set the story straight with his 1907 book. In Voorhies’ tale, Labiche waited by the oak tree along Bayou Teche for Louis Arceneaux, only to find Louis had remarried. The gravesite of Labiche is topped by a statue of Longfellow’s Evangeline. Actress Delores del Rio posed for this statue when she was in St. Martinville filming the 1929 film “Evangeline.”