All the Oldest Churches in New Mexico

A word about churches:  I don’t know how many “oldest” churches there are in New Mexico but Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe was the first, oldest church, we entered.  Loretto (1873) claims the title of oldest Gothic cathedral west of the Mississippi. The main attraction is the spiral wooden staircase miraculously built by a single carpenter in just 6 months. Upon completing the staircase, the carpenter mysteriously disappeared. Another miracle is that the spiral stairs was originally used without a handrail. It must have taken great courage to sing in the choir.

In Santa Fe we also visited San Miguel Mission down the street which claims to be the oldest church (1680 rebuilt 1710) in the U.S.

San Miguel Mission

Santa Fe Church but which one?

With impressive bronze doors is Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi 

which incorporated the oldest adobe chapel in the new cathedral.

San Geronimo Church Ruins & Cemetery

New San Geronimo

In Taos Pueblo San Geronimo would have been an oldest but the Pueblo Indians burned down in 1640.  As I understand it there was some anger about the effort required to build a church for a strict Spanish religion many weren’t thrilled with.  Religious compromises were made and the church was rebuilt and the 3-7 ft. thick adobe walls were a great protection for the Indians & Spanish against the U.S. cannonballs for a while. U.S. troops eventually came through the roof and set the church on fire. The cemetery and some ruins remain and the new San Geronimo was built on a different site.

Enroute from Taos to Albuquerque we stopped at San Jose de Garcia Church (built 1760-76) in Las Trampas one of the oldest, best preserved, Spanish Colonial churches. 

San Jose de Garcia

We also didn’t miss Chimayo (1814) where a glowing crucifix was found and apparently (the crucifix) demanded that the Santuario de Chimayo church be built around it.

Very Wet!

Santurario de Chimayo

 In Old Town Albuquerque we stumbled into ­­San Felipe de Neri originally built in 1706 but rebuilt 1793 after the adobe melted due to a large amount of rain and not 300+ days of sunshine.  It’s the oldest church in Albuquerque.

San Felipe de Neri-Oldest Church in Albuquerque. 

Old adobe churches are definitely a New Mexico specialty.