In this post I want to show some of the photos I took in Santa Fe in 2009 and 2014. It is a beautiful and historic city to visit, with a downtown small enough to be very walkable. My photographs of three Santa Fe churches are in three other posts: Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Loretto Chapel, and San Miguel Chapel. As always, click on a photo for a larger view.

San Miguel Chapel is a Spanish colonial mission church in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is said to be the oldest church in the United States, originally built around 1610. It has been rebuilt twice and it is not clear how much of the earlier churches remain. The wooden reredos, which includes a wooden statue of Saint Michael dating back to at least 1709, was added in 1798. The church is part of the Barrio De Analco Historic District, which is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. This district also includes the De Vargas Street House, which is called the “oldest house”.

Loretto Chapel is famous for its spiral staircase. The building, a chapel for a girls’ school, was built by the same French architects who designed the St. Francis Cathedral. Like the cathedral, the stained glass windows came from France. The building was commissioned in 1873. I will quote from Wikipedia on the staircase – it is well worth reading why this staircase is notable, but first note, it has no central pole.
“It is known for its unusual helix-shaped spiral staircase (the “Miraculous Stair”). The Sisters of Loretto credited St. Joseph with its construction. It has been the subject of legend, and the circumstances surrounding its construction and its builder were considered miraculous by the Sisters of Loretto.”

I was working on photos I have taken in Santa Fe and discovered so many of the St. Francis Cathedral, mostly interior, that I am making a separate story for the cathedral. The current building was built on the site of two previous previous churches. It was designed in the Romanesque Revival style and was completed in 1887. The stained glass windows were imported from France. I am no expert on this building, but wanted to share my photographs of it.

We toured Acoma Pueblo with Bob and Zeina Cook in late October 2018. Also known as Sky City, it is situated on a 367-foot high mesa in New Mexico. You check in for a tour at the Sky City Cultural Center and ride to the top of the mesa on a road that was blasted into the rock face in the 1950s. The original footpaths can be used for your return trip if you choose. (Click on any photo for a larger view.)

Below left is the view of the mesa from the road to the mesa. On the right is a view from the mesa.

Taos Pueblo is a National Historic Landmark and a World Heritage Site. According to the Taos Pueblo website “the multi-storied adobe buildings have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years.” You can read an interesting introduction to the site on the nps.gov Taos Pueblo website.

Although it was closed to the public for a while during the covid pandemic, it is now open again. These photographs were taken in June 2009. Click on any photo for a larger view.

The Taos area is very interesting, but the Taos Plaza itself is, for me, a one-time visit place. It is an artsy community, so if you want to look at or purchase local art, and view New Mexico art in galleries, you will find it interesting. Articles about Taos after saying art, museums, shops, restaurants send you out of the square to what I agree are interesting places: the Taos Pueblo, Rancho de Taos Plaza, and the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. I’ve already done a post for Rancho de Taos and I will prepare one (or more) on the Taos Pueblo.

This is not the town of Taos itself, but an area outside of town called Ranchos de Taos. The Ranchos de Taos Plaza is easily accessible and I think very interesting. The centerpiece is San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church. The original mission church was begun in 1772 and the current building was completed in 1815. It is a National Historic Landmark.

In 1840 Matt Field ¹ wrote of Ranchos de Taos during his travels through New Mexico: “This town called the ranch lies at the base of a gigantic mountain and is watered by a swift stream that rushes from the ravine… It contains about 300 houses, and those are built completely together, forming a wall, enclosing a large square, in the center of which stands a church.”