Sightseeing in Santa Fe
We left Taos and traveled south towards Santa Fe this morning (Wednesday). This was one of several overpasses with painted designs.
Santa Fe is the highest state capital at an elevation of almost 7,000 feet. There are lots of historic churches and lots of expensive shops here.
Our fist stop was the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi… and we discovered it has a link to Willa Cather. It was built under the leadership of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1869 and 1886 on the site of an older adobe church. Cather’s novel, Death Comes to the Archbishop, is based on Lamy’s life and career.
Next stop was the Loretto Chapel, home of the Miraculous Stairway.
The stairway makes two complete revolutions with no obvious center support. There’s an interesting article about it here.
Originally, there were no banisters.
We drove by but did not visit the San Miguel Mission Church, one of the country’s oldest churches in continuous use. Built in the early 1600’s, some of the original adobe walls remain despite having been burned during the Pueblo Revolt in 1680.
