Beautiful adobe churches in this part of New Mexico and a lovely capital city, Santa Fe.
Before taking the scenic High Road to Santa Fe from Taos we stopped at the beautiful church of San Francisco de Asis, which is very close to the junction of the 518 in Ranchos de Taos.
The adobe church was completed in the early 19th century and, like all traditional adobe buildings, has a fresh coat of clay sand and straw mix applied to its walls every year.
The church was famously photographed by ansel Adams and it's not hard to see its appeal. It has beautiful lines and massive buttresses. Unlike San Jerome in Taos Pueblo, also photographed by Adams, its shape has changed little over the intervening years. I liked it very much.
South of Taos the 518 heads east. This is the start of the scenic High Road to Santa Fe with quite a lot to see along the way.
We actually missed the first point of interest that we decided to stop at, the Pot Creek Cultural Site, and had to double back but it was hardly worth the bother. It has Ancestral Puebloan ruins dating from around 1200 and a kiva which I think can be entered but the site looked closed when we were there.
Our next stop was the church of San José de Gracia in Las Trampas. Built between 1760 and 1776 it has thick adobe walls and two bell towers. It is one of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in New Mexican.
Our final stop was the Santuario de Chimayo with a reputation as a miraculous location it is probably the most visited church in New Mexico, and the end point for the largest pilgrimage commemorating the Bataan Death March of American Philipinos during WW2. It began life as a small chapel built in 1814 where a local farmer is said to have dug up a glowing crucifix.
When we visited Santa Fe from Taos we took the more direct Highway 68 which is a lot quicker than the High Road.
Santa Fe, the capital city of New Mexico, was first established in 1609 as the capital of Spain's northernmost territory in the New World. It is a city of the arts with many writers and artists living here and countless art galleries and seems a very pleasant place.
We had planned to eat at Tia Sophia's but there was quite a queue so we went into the Plaza Café on the main plaza and had a good lunch there.
One very good, tender steak and one huge chicken quesadillo which I couldn't finish! The classic maragaritas were great too.
After lunch we made our way to the Loretto Chapel to see the "miraculous staircase". Built in the 187os to serve the Sisters of Loretto, legend has it that there was no way for the choir loft to be reached from the chapel - a conventional staircase would take to much room. The Sisters prayed to their patron saint, Joseph and on the ninth day a carpenter showed up and designed and constructed the spiral staircase. He left without asking for payment.
The staircase has no central nor side supports and rises 33 steps in two full 360 degree turns.
The cathedral is a 19th century neo-Romanesque construction which, in my opinion, is nowhere near as attractive as the lovely adobe churches.
On to the oldest house and church.
San Miguel Chapel is the oldest church building in the USA, situated in Barrio d Analco, Santa Fe's oldest neighbourhood, at the top of De Vargas, the oldest street. It was begun in 1610 and partially reconstructed after it was set on fire in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt.
A small adobe building on the same street is claimed to be the oldest house in the USA. Whether this is true or not, it is a simple adobe structure which we were able to go into, though the interior was being renovated at the time so wasn't very evocative.
We were very hot at this point so went directly to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum where it was nicely cool. I do like her more colourful paintings.
Georgia O'Keeffe married Alfred Stieglitz in 1924. In the early years of their relationship they would often visit his family's home in Lake George, New York. Here she would paint, including the beautiful "Trees in Autumn" which explores the autumnal colours of the maples for which the Adirondacks region is famous.
In 1940 she bought the Ghost Ranch house, her first permanent home in New Mexico. The home and surrounding landscape inspired her painting and one of the first she created here was "Stump in Red Hills", a vibrant study of a piece of juniper.
"On the River I Canyon Country III" was inspired by a rafting trip O'Keeffe took at the age of 73 down the Colorado River with her photographer friends Eliot Porter and Todd Webb. Together the three documented Glen Canyon before much of it was flooded by the Glen Canyon Dam in 1965-66.