An enormous number of places of worship have been built in Louisiana during the past 250 years, many of which still stand. Today in New Orleans alone there are more than 850 churches representing over seventy denominations. The state's religious buildings encompass not only a wide range of faiths but also a striking diversity of architectural forms. In Religious Architecture in Louisiana, Robert W. Heck and Otis B. Wheeler provide the first photographic survey of this rich architectural heritage.

Their goal has been not to document every surviving religious building - a nearly impossible task - but to isolate prime examples of the historically and architecturally significant. The greater part of the book is devoted to 162 structures across the state. There are photographs of each, and addresses, dates of construction (when known), and architectural styles are given. Information abounds on design, construction materials, and structural and decorative details.

As orientation, Heck supplies a brief history of Louisiana's religious architecture. He describes the dominant influence of Catholicism during the eighteenth century and discusses the burgeoning construction that accompanied the expansion of religious freedom following the Louisiana Purchase, in 1803, as Protestants and Jews erected their own houses of worship.

He considers the various architectural influences that have marked Louisiana's religious buildings, from the Colonial style of the eighteenth century, through the Classical Revival and Gothic Revival styles that prevailed during the middle part of the nineteenth century, to the Eclectic style that gained currency after the Civil War and typified the design of religious buildings until about 1930.

Adding to the utility of the book are a glossary of architectural terms, an appendix of religious buildings included in the National Register of Historic Places, and an appendix of known early religious structures that are no longer standing.