Santa Fe, Nm

On Wednesday May 28th we drove into Santa Fe for the day. We first went to the Mission San Miguel. This is the oldest church in the United States built in 1610.

San Miguel Church

I had always assumed that the oldest church would have been in one of the 13 colonies, but this church out dates them. 

San Miguel Exterior

The church has been re-stuccoed, but the original is still intact. Towards the front of the church there are some cutouts that you can see the original stucco.

San Miguel Interior

We parked the truck in the Old Town area and did a walking tour based upon a walking tour map we received from the visitor center. One of the areas was suggested to go was Canyon Road. It is an artsy area where every house and shop on the street and surrounding streets are art galleries. 

Canyon Road

Mostly they are sculptures and bronzes and things like that. Some are pretty good, some are pretty weird!

Sculptures and things

We didn't see anyone shopping but there were other people like us walking around looking. They must be selling this stuff though because there are so many shops!

Gallery

After Canyon Road we went to the Loretto Chapel. There is supposed to be a "Miraculous Stairway" here.

Loretto Chapel

The story of the chapel and stairway is supposed to be as follows:

In 1872 Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the Bishop of the Santa Fe Archdiocese, commissioned the building of a convent chapel to be named Our Lady of Light Chapel, which would be in the care of the Sisters of Loretto. The chapel was designed by French architect Antoine Mouly in the Gothic Revival style, complete with spires, buttresses, and stained glass windows imported from France. Although it was built on a much smaller scale, the chapel bears an obvious resemblance to the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.

The architect died suddenly and it was only after much of the chapel was constructed that the builders realized it was lacking any type of stairway to the choir loft. Due to the chapel's small size, a standard staircase would have been too large. Historians have also noted that earlier churches of the period had ladders rather than stairs to the choir loft, but the Sisters did not feel comfortable with that prospect because of the long habits that they wore.

The Sisters of Loretto relate the story as follows:

Needing a way to get up to the choir loft the nuns prayed for St. Joseph's intercession for nine straight days. On the day after their novena ended a shabby-looking stranger appeared at their door. He told the nuns he would build them a staircase but that he needed total privacy and locked himself in the chapel for three months. He used a small number of primitive tools including a square, a saw and some warm water and constructed a spiral staircase entirely of non-native wood. The identity of the carpenter is not known for as soon as the staircase was finally finished he was gone. Many witnesses, upon seeing the staircase, feel it was constructed by St. Joseph himself, as a miraculous occurrence.

The resulting staircase is an impressive work of carpentry. It ascends twenty feet, making two complete revolutions up to the choir loft without the use of nails or apparent center support. It has been surmised that the central spiral of the staircase is narrow enough to serve as a central beam. Nonetheless there was no attachment unto any wall or pole in the original stairway, although in 1887 -- 10 years after it was built -- a railing was added and the outer spiral was fastened to an adjacent pillar. Instead of metal nails, the staircase was constructed using dowels or wooden pegs.

Here is the staircase, you can decide for yourself!

Loretto Staircase

Sante Fe is the capital of New Mexico. We decided to take a tour of the capital building.

State Capital

You check in at the front desk and they give you a self guided tour brochure. You pretty much can go anywhere you want to in the building! Quite a bit different then in California!

We found the Governor's Office right away. She is Republican Susana Martinez. Apparently she is a great governor with a 66 percent approval rating. We walked right in and her staff was really friendly and was really enthusiastic about serving with her!

Governor's Office

This is the state seal of New Mexico. "Crescit Enudo", It Grows as it Goes!

Crescit Enudo

We had a great day in Santa Fe. What great history this old town has! Tomorrow we will go to Bandelier National Monument and climb ladders into the cliff dwellings. Pray for me with my fear of heights! LOL!!

Love you all!

Brian and Patty