We started out the day with a trip to the Santa Fe Farmers Market near the downtown area. The numbers of growers selling items was relatively small, but one of the growers said the market just opened on May 3rd and it is still pretty early in the growing season up here. She also said there are normally more booths on weekends and the crowds are significantly larger. We bought a string of dried red peppers (a ristra) that were grown north of town.
The Santa Fe railroad station is near the farmers market and is an active hub for regular train service between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. While we were there, a train came in and a number of passengers got on and off. The railroad station is also the hub of a commercial area with a number of shops and restaurants.
We then walked to a historical church nearby, the Santuario De Guadalupe, which was built in 1880 and is the oldest extant church in the United States devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is a version of Mary, Jesus' mother, who appeared to a seventeenth century Mexican farm worker.
After visiting the church, we drove to the downtown plaza and parked nearby. We had an excellent lunch at one of the many restaurants on the square, then walked around the plaza looking at the many shops with all kinds of art, crafts, jewelry, and native American items for sale. One interesting area was a sanctioned Native American vendors area. Individual vendors had many types of Indian items displayed on blankets on the ground. Just about any kind of Indian craft item was available for sale.
We then visited another church, the St. Francis Cathedral, which is close to the plaza and is a large cathedral that is typical example of a large Catholic church.
As Santa Fe is the city of churches, we visited another one. This one, the Loretto Chapel, is now privately owned and is rented out for weddings, events, etc. The special feature of this church is a spiral staircase up to the choir loft that is a work of art. The staircase is a double spiral with no supporting center post, built with wooden pegs and without nails or glue - amazing to see.
And just down the street is the San Miguel Mission Church. This church was originally built by native Indians under the direction of the Spaniards in 1610. it has been rebuilt several times since then, but is an active church and very similar to the many mission churches we have visited in California.
As we had seen enough churches for the day, we decided to visit the New Mexico State Capitol Building in Santa Fe, which is actually the oldest state capitol in the United States. The legislature is not presently in session so the building was practically deserted. It is a beautiful 4-story circular building that opens up to a rotunda with a flat glass dome in the ceiling. The highlight of the interior is an extensive collection of art by New Mexico artists on virtually every wall. All of it is very well done and displays a wide range of artistic subjects and mediums. The building was very different from the Texas State Capitol but seems to capture the special nature of New Mexico and its heritage very well.
We then headed back to the RV for dinner and to rest-up for our trip to Sedona, AZ in the morning.
Tuesday Pictures - Santa Fe, NM
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