Santa Fe Church Visits Continue

Sunday, 12 July 2015
Santa Fe Skies RV Park — Santa Fe, New Mexico
Temps: Hi 85F (29C) / Lo 56F (13C)

A day of rest did wonders to rejuvenate my batteries.  Too many people; too much heat … draining for an introvert like me who prefers cool temps to summer heat.  Staying home yesterday also allowed me to process photos … always a good thing in my book.

Mui wandered off for a while to visit the Saturday farmer’s market — he needs people to recharge his extrovert batteries don’t you know :-).  He came back with a few goodies that I am sure he will make good use of over the next few days.

With a travel day ahead of us, we decided to stay local today.  We did a few chores, and then set off to enjoy a few more sites in Santa Fe and give Mui a break from the kitchen by having lunch at one of the many restaurants and cafés in town.

Our short stay in Santa Fe has somehow turned into a visit with a focus on churches.  You’d think we are especially religious people — we aren’t.  That said, we enjoy visiting ecclesiastical sites — be they churches, mosques, or synagogues — and appreciate the sense of quiet peace they afford.  Add to that the history that many of the churches in Santa Fe come with … well, let’s just continue the theme.

Our first stop this morning was to a mission that is outside the walkable downtown area — the Santuario de Guadalupe [Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe].  Built sometime in the last quarter of the 18th century, this 200+ year-old sanctuary is said to be the oldest one dedicated to the Lady of Guadalupe … as the Virgin Mary is known in parts of Mexico since 1531.

Sculpted by a Mexican artist, The 12-foot (~3.5m) tall statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe
is the latest addition to the shrine and was dedicated in 2008.  The red circles on
the ground are part of a Rosary of Peace installed in honor of Pope John Paul II.

The shrine was initially built as a mission church at the Santa Fe end of El Camino Real [Royal Road], which stretched north from Mexico City.  It later became a parish church, and functioned as such until it was replaced by the adjacent church that opened in 1961.

The altar and walls survived the 1922 fire that razed the church’s roof.  The spire
also collapsed in the fire, and the painted frescoes on the walls were damaged.

the reredos dates back to 1783 and was transported from Mexico City to
Santa Fe in sections by an oxen train.  In addition to a painted image of the Lady of
Guadalupe, the screen includes scenes of her appearance to Juan Diego (right).

Having undergone renovations in the 1880s and 1920s, the church was closed in 1961 when further deterioration was noted in the three-foot (~1m) thick adobe-plastered walls.  The santuario remained closed until grants were received in the mid-1970s to undertake renovations.

Collage of historic photos on display in the room that was added on in 1881.

Left: interior of the church in 1881 (photo by Ben Wittick).
Right top: 1883 engraving of the Chapel; the men are strolling on El Camino Real.
Right Bottom: early image of the church as it was originally built.

Left: Stained glass windows were added during the 1920's restoration of the church.
These windows were damaged after the church was closed in 1961.  During the
subsequent restoration project that was undertaken in the mid-1970’s, Four
of them were salvaged and reconstructed.  On display in the exhibit room,
the windows are decorated with hand-painted images of the Virgin Mary.

Right: In the original construction rough wooden lintels were placed above the
openings of all doors and windows.  The timbers seen here were placed there during
the renovation.  The ends of the ceiling joists would have rested in the holes in the wall.

Taking a roundabout way out of the shrine to get to the parking lot, a tile mural on the wall by the door to the adjacent parish church caught my eye.  Of course I had to detour to take a shot of it.  For my efforts, I was rewarded with two other photo ops.

Left: Mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe; made in Mexico. Artist: Lorenzo Lopez.
Center: Mosaic mural of Christ; signed Leyba (perhaps for Sam Leyba).
Right: a lovely statue still sitting on a pallet; no information.

Mui had left me streetside when we arrived at the santuario, so it wasn’t until we were walking back to the car that I noticed the adobe-framed tile panels along a section of the parking lot perimeter.

The upright rock preceding the first mosaic simply read “Cerro de Tepeyac” [Tepeyac Hill].  Unfamiliar with the reference, I looked it up when I returned home.  Turns out Tepeyac, Mexico was where the apparition of the Virgin Mary first appeared to Juan Diego in 1531.

Three of the six panels along the Cerro de Tepeyac walking path.
To see all six, visit my gallery and start with this photograph.

Our next stop was a brief one on our way to downtown Santa Fe.  I’d seen a photo of the First Presbyterian Church and liked the simple, rounded lines of the building … Mui was kind enough to take a detour so I could take a quick snapshot.

the First Presbyterian Church, the oldest Protestant church in New Mexico,
has a history that dates back to 1866.  The present sanctuary was built in 1939.

The Cross of the Martyrs, which is at Fort Marcy Park, was going to be our next stop before taking a break for lunch.  We found it OK.  Since it was way too hot by this time to trek up the stairs, Mui found a way to get to the top of the park, hoping the cross would be more readily accessible.  It wasn’t.  We might have still ventured down, but a couple of characters loitering at the top of the trail made me feel uncomfortable, so we decided to skip this stop.  Driving downtown from here did reward me with a mural that I am sure we would have otherwise missed, so all wasn’t lost.

St Francis and the settlers — on the wall of the St Francis Cathedral School.

Time to take a break for lunch.  Having checked Yelp and Trip Advisor reviews, we had settled on Coyote Café for our mid-day meal.  After parking the car in the Water Street lot, we walked the short distance to the restaurant.  At the top of the stairs we were directed to the Rooftop Cantina, which is apparently the daytime dining venue operated by the café.  Casual and al fresco?  Works for us.

The terrace has a selection of seating options ranging from regular tables, to tall bistro tables, to seating at a narrow shelf along the perimeter of the wall.  The latter was in the sun, so we asked for a bistro table in the shade.  Minutes later, we were sipping a couple of cold brews and perusing the menu.

With the help of our waiter — who assured me that the dish didn’t have much “heat” — I ordered the Baja style fish tacos made with mahi mahi.  Somehow I missed that the fish was tempura style.  Though fried, it wasn’t too greasy, so it worked out well.  Mui went with my second choice, which the waiter suggested packed some heat — Fiery skillet of shrimp and chorizo (think fajitas).  One tiny taste of Mui’s dish was all I needed to know that I had made the right decision by not ordering it.  Dessert — bananas on a chocolate cake base for Mui; ginger beer float for me — served as a very tasty ending to a really good meal.

Baja Style Fish Tacos	Fiery Skillet: Shrimp & Chorizo	Sides for the Fiery Skillet

A great meal followed by some great desserts.

To walk off our meal, we wandered over towards Santa Fe Plaza where a crowd had gathered to watch belly dancing and other ethnic performances.  A few minutes there was plenty for the “crowd-averse” me.  We continued our walk from there and ended up at the cathedral.

Why return to the Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi when we had already spent an extensive amount of time there?  Turns out we missed one part of the church on the first visit (post here), so we figured we might as well complete our exploration before leaving Santa Fe.  What did we miss?  The Stations of the Cross Prayer Garden.

A panorama of the garden … showing the last station — Jesus laid in the tomb.

As the name implies, the garden is a place for meditation.  It’s a place for the devout to walk a path lined with life-size statues sculpted by Gib Singleton and on loan to the cathedral from a private collection.  The grounds are actually what’s left of the gardens of Archbishop Lamy … the first Archbishop of Santa Fe.  We very much appreciated the shade the trees provided on this hot day in the city, but the dappled light from the sculptures having been set in nooks framed by trees made photographing the 14 stations very difficult.

The harsh lines of the sculptures are intended to reflect the suffering of Jesus.

Left: The first station is preceded by the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.
Center: Station VI — Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus.
Right: Station IX — Jesus falls a third time.

Station XI — Jesus is crucified.

[If interested in seeing all the sculptures, visit my online gallery … starting with this sculpture.]

With this last stop we decided to call it a day.  It was mid-afternoon; it was hot; and there were pre-travel-day chores awaiting us at home.  Seeking shade where we could find it, and stopping to take snapshots of a few things that caught my eye, we slowly made our way back to the car.

Beautiful mural On the wall of the garage of the La Fonda, a landmark hotel in Santa Fe.

Painted divider columns in the La Fonda garage catch my eye.

Our stay in Santa Fe was short, but it was packed with a lot of interesting sights.  Don’t expect the same from our next stop — which is intended for R&R more than anything else.