Santa Fe Things to Do

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In the homogenous adobe world of Santa Fe’s downtown area, the Cathedral of San Francisco seems somewhat incongruous. How did such a European-looking place of worship come to be here? Well, it was, unsurprisingly, due to one particular European, a French priest – Jean Baptiste Lamy. Apparently when he first arrived here in 1851 he was shocked at some of the religious practices, including the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and also horrified by the church buildings, finding it impossible to believe that anyone could reach heaven while praying on a dirt floor inside a building made of mud! So he commissioned this new cathedral for Santa Fe, and all of the old church was demolished, apart from one small side chapel. But it seems that he ran out of money, and the two spires that should have topped the towers either side of the front porch were never added – hence their rather odd stumpy appearance.

Inside it is light and rather lovely, but you can’t help but wonder whether the ancient adobe would have held more atmosphere and sense of the spiritual? To find out, head to the left of the altar where you will find the one remaining adobe chapel, which houses a small statue (photo two). This is La Conquistadora, a statue brought to Santa Fe from Mexico in 1625. She was carried away by the retreating Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt, but reinstated in 1693, and has been honoured ever since for inspiring the Spanish to stick with their colonizing project. Whether such colonial “smirking” is appropriate in a church I am not so sure, but the little statue is a marvel indeed. Elsewhere in the cathedral though, the native influence is apparent, for instance in the dreamcatcher-like bell that hangs above the lectern (photo three). This and many other elements of the decoration and ornamentation are quite modern, such as the windows of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel to the right of the altar, the altar screen and the great bronze doors. All of these were added in 1986 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral. I very much liked these modern touches, which added to the sensation of lightness and airiness.

Back outside, and in front of the cathedral are a couple of interesting statues. One is naturally of the patron saint, St Francis. The other is more unusual and depicts Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint (photo five). She was a 17th century Mohawk-Algonquian woman, who converted to Christianity at an early age.

The cathedral is open daily between 7.00 am and 6.00 pm, although access is restricted during Mass times. There is no fee to pay, though it would be good to leave a donation. Simple leaflets describing the architecture and various monuments are available for a suggested donation of 50c.

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To the left of the cathedral as you face its great west doors is a small park. This was established in 1998 to mark the 400th anniversary of the first European, i.e. Spanish, colonisation of New Mexico. There are some lovely trees there and it offers a quiet, restful spot away from the bustle of the streets. In the centre is this monument commemorating the anniversary. The inscription on it reads:

“The year 1998 marked the 400th anniversary of the arrival in New Mexico of about 560 valiant men, women and children to establish one of the earliest permanent European settlements in the United States. Their leader and first governor, Don Juan de Oñate, led this intrepid band north over hundreds of desolate, dangerous miles to the green valleys of northern New Mexico. It was there the colonists established themselves by introducing European crops and the first horses, sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys and poultry – thereby establishing European culture and technology in the United States, where they had not previously existed.

With the settlers came the Franciscan priests and brothers who ministered to the colonists and to the native inhabitants of the region. It was this unswerving devotion to their faith and to their families that consoled and inspired those settlers and their descendents to endure and prevail over 400 years of isolation, abandonment, hardship and cultural challenges. It is to those heroic precursors that our community joins in raising this monument to our forefathers’ continuing contributions to the history, culture and values of today’s America. May they serve as an inspiration to all who pass this way.”

The monument includes sculptures of different types of settler – Franciscan monk, a colonial settler family (man, woman and two children), and a Spanish soldier. They surround a column which is topped by a statue of Mary La Conquistadora. At its base are many of the fruits, vegetables, tools, music instruments etc. brought to New Mexico by these colonialists, and it is supported by a cow, a pig, a sheep and a donkey.

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Not content with rebuilding the Cathedral in an architectural style which, he believed, was more fitting for worship, Bishop Lamy also commissioned the small Loretto Chapel a little to the south of it – the first Gothic structure to be built west of the Mississippi, modelled on King Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Outside the chapel is a tree hung with rosaries, which is interesting in the light of the fact that the chapel was desanctified in 1971 and sold to a private family. This family have preserved it well, hiring it out for weddings and opening it to the public each day. There is an admission charge of $3 (September 2011 prices) and it is well worth paying this small fee for a glimpse inside.

The chapel is richly decorated with stained glass windows from France and Stations of the Cross from Italy, but what makes it special is the so-called miraculous spiral staircase that leads to the choir loft. Fashioned beautifully from an apparently extinct species of wood, it twists elegantly upwards with no central pole to support it, resting solely on its base and against the loft, and making over two complete 360-degree turns as it climbs. It is 20 feet high and was constructed without glue or nails, using only square wooden pegs to hold the parts together.

One story goes that the Sisters of Loretto had been given the funds by Lamy to build their chapel, but that the money ran out before they could build a stair to reach their choir loft. Another version says that the small size of the chapel meant that no carpenter could identify a way to fit a staircase into the space. Both versions go on to tell how the Sisters made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a mysterious carpenter appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. He worked at the staircase for six months, never saying a word, and then left, without taking any payment. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers. Certainly the carpenter was never heard from again, although some historians claim to have tracked him down to Las Cruces, where he met his end in a bar fight. Whatever its origins, the staircase is beautiful, and even the later addition of balustrades and handrails (for safety reasons) cannot detract from the simple grace of its upwards sweep.

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This adobe mission chapel claims to be the oldest church in the United States, having been built between around 1610 to 1626. Whether that claim is true or not, this old building certainly has plenty of character and is well worth the $1 charged for admission (September 2011 price). Slightly oddly, you enter through the gift shop, so that it feels rather like a shop with a church tacked on to the back. But once inside you find a little gem. The beautiful wooden altar screen or reredos (photo three) dates from 1798 and is the oldest of its type in the state. The statue in its centre is of the chapel’s patron saint, St Michael the Archangel and was brought here from Mexico in 1709.

In front of the altar, glass panes in the floor allow you to peer down at the original foundations of the church and of the Native American structure formerly on this site. At the other end of the little chapel, near the door, is a large bell. This once hung in the bell tower and has an inscription dedicated to San Jose and dating it to 1356.

There are several picturesque old houses in the area immediately around the chapel, including one that claims to be the oldest in the US, supposedly built around 1646.

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At the heart of downtown Santa Fe, as of every Spanish colonial town, is its Plaza, which is a National Historic Landmark. It is nicely laid out with lawns, trees and plenty of benches where you can relax and watch the world go by.

The Plaza originally marked the end of El Camino Real (the Spanish Royal Road from Mexico City) and the Santa Fe Trail, an important trade route. In those days it would have been surrounded by a large defensive wall that enclosed residences, barracks, a chapel, a prison and the Governor's Palace. Of these just the Governor’s Palace, on the north side, remains, and where there were once barracks and defenses today you find restaurants and shops.

In the centre of the Plaza is the Indian War Memorial (photo two), which was dedicated in 1867 to those who died in “battles with…Indians in the territory of New Mexico”. As this inscription suggests, the monument was erected during times of conflict between colonists and natives, and the space between “with” and “Indians” originally carried the word “savage”. But this has thankfully been removed in these more enlightened times, although the monument itself still seems something of an anachronism.
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On the north side of the Plaza is the Palace of the Governors, a single-storey adobe building running the full length of the block. It was built ii 1610 as Santa Fe’s original capitol building, and claims to be the oldest U.S. public building still in continuous use. It was designated a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1960 and an American Treasure in 1999. Each day its portico is the base for a number of Native American traders who come here to sell their crafts – see my shopping tip.

Inside is a museum which tells the story of Santa Fe and the surrounding area. Collections cover the Spanish colonial (1540-1821), Mexican (1821-1846), U.S. Territorial (1846-1912) and statehood (1912-present) periods of history. We only had limited time to look round (doing our usual trick of trying to pack too much into one day, while also wanting to chill and enjoy our surroundings!) But even with limited time it is worth making the effort to go on – for me, not so much for the collections, good though they are, but for the chance to see inside this old building. I also liked seeing the period rooms which offer a glimpse of how life would have been in the past for residents of Santa Fe.

Entry costs $9 (adult non-residents, September 2011 prices) but if you plan to visit several museums you can get various passes, e.g. two in one day costs $12.

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We had walked past this museum several times before deciding to visit, as it was just round the corner from our little casita in Chapelle Street. We didn’t know a lot about O’Keeffe before coming to Santa Fe, but we were keen to find out more. We had been warned by our Moon Handbook that the museum had perhaps fewer of her works than might have been expected in one dedicated entirely to this single artist – unfortunately by the time it opened in the late 1990s many of her pieces were already in collections elsewhere. But as the guidebook explained, this had been partly rectified in 2005 when the museum received the collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, so lovers of her work, or the curious such as ourselves, should at least find it worth a visit.

The gallery is modern and light, with six of its rooms now given over to the O’Keeffe collection. Of these I liked best the large flower pictures, such as white jimson weed, for which she is perhaps best known, and the landscapes painted in the immediate vicinity of Santa Fe, evocative of her love for this red sandstone country. No photos are allowed inside, but you can see some good examples, including those beautiful lilies, on the museum’s website here, and the landscapes here. I also liked the way the exhibition was curated, with some fascinating quotes from O’Keeffe painted on the walls alongside the paintings.

The remaining rooms are devoted to temporary exhibitions featuring O’Keeffe’s contemporaries or artists influenced by her. At the time of our visit this meant a travelling exhibition called “From New York to Corrymore: Robert Henri & Ireland”. I didn’t previously know the work of Robert Henri, and sadly after seeing this exhibition I was not inspired to do so. Apparently he is regarded as “the leader of the urban realists group known as the Ashcan School,” but the portraits of (mainly) Irish children were not really my thing I’m afraid. Nevertheless I was really pleased to have seen the works by O’Keeffe and that was, after all, the purpose of our visit.

The next day we drove to Abiquiu to see the scenery that so inspired O’Keeffe. Unfortunately it was a dull afternoon so my photos don’t really do the landscape justice, but you can still sense some of the wildness if the scenery and can see the distinctive flat top of Cerro Pedernal that featured in so many of her works (photo two).

We paid $10 admission, although I note at the time of writing, two months later in November 2011, that the website says $12. There are lockers where you can leave your bags, as you aren’t permitted to carry these into the exhibition space. There is also a good gift shop, with cards, prints and some high-quality related gifts (e.g. jewellery, and silk scarves printed with the flower images) – I just bought a couple of cards as I had been unable to take any photos. I see from the website that you can order online and it would be a good place to look for gifts for art-loving friends.

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This was, I felt, the best of the museums we visited in Santa Fe – not that we managed to get to anything like all of them though! To start with, it’s worth a visit for the building itself, which is a beautiful example of what is commonly known as “pueblo revival architecture”. It was built in 1917 and originally designed to be the New Mexico pavilion for a world expo in San Diego two years earlier. The wonderfully curvaceous building “borrows” motifs from pueblo mission churches, such as the bell towers seen in several of my photos. It has a lovely tranquil inner courtyard, festooned with ristras (the distinctive strings of chillies).

There is a good variety of exhibits and it’s likely that everyone will find something to their taste. We were originally lured in by posters promoting a major photography exhibition, Earth Now”, with a focus on photographers who highlight environmental issues in their work. But with a few exceptions we both found these more didactic than inspirational. However there was plenty that appealed to us more, in particular another temporary exhibition of New Native Photography 2011 (ends in January 2012 though, so hurry if you want to see it!) There were some really excellent images here, by 19 photographers from across North America. Some are reproduced on the website below, but I won’t put a link in here in case it becomes broken when the exhibition ends – you could try Google if you’re interested after that date perhaps.

The other exhibition that I really liked was “How the West is One”, which is a more or less permanent one. The website explains that the exhibition,
“organizes key objects from the museum’s collections so that they outline an intercultural history of New Mexico art, from the arrival of railroads in 1879 to the present. This long term exhibition presents 70 works by Native American, Hispanic, and European-American artists which illustrate the changing aesthetic ideals that have evolved within southwestern art over the last 125 years. The exhibition allows viewers to discover the one-ness of New Mexico Art. Unique, unpredictable, often contradictory unity developed from the interactions of the Native American Hispanic, and mainstream American aesthetic traditions.”
Have a look at the website here if you’d like to read more or to see some of the works – highly recommended.

Entry costs $9 (adult non-residents, September 2011 prices) but if you plan to visit several museums you can get various passes, e.g. two in one day costs $12.

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