CABILDOIRONWORKSCRIPT

CABILDO IRON WORK SCRIPT

__ Ironwork Ornamental __
== The ironwork on the front gallery on the second floor of the Cabildo dates to the Spanish colonial period of the 1790s, when the present Cabildo was first constructed. ==

== Marcelino Hernandez, who was a Spanish immigrant from the Canary Islands, designed the graceful and elegant patterns used here. The central windows of the gallery overlook the pattern of the crown, which symbolized the King of Spain. The windows on both ends of the gallery feature a rose design, which was a symbol of the Catholic Church, another important Spanish institution. ==

== Many buildings in the French Quarter feature iron work on balconies. The wrought iron of the Cabildo represents the earlier iron technology of the Spanish period. However, most of the iron work in the French Quarter is cast iron and dates to the early 1800s of the American period. Cast iron is made when a cast pattern design is formed, and then molten iron is poured into the cast and then cooled. Cast iron allows a pattern to be repeated, as seen on the Pontalba Apartments adjacent to the Cabildo. ==