Today we set about exploring a few more places we have not seen. How about this mailbox? Just a tad unique eh? It’s out on Airport road, a couple miles from the town center.

Santa Fe is steeped in history.It’s origins go way back to before the Spanish came to America, but the town that exists today is laid out in the typical Spanish way, with a main square with government buildings on one side, shops and home around the exterior, and religious sites within close proximity.

The San Miguel Mission is the oldest church in the USA that still is in use today. Services are still held here every Sunday. It was first built in 1610 but was subsequently destroyed twice and the structure today was constructed in 1710. Some parts of the original 1610 church still exist. The Tlaxcaltecan Indians of Mexico, brought to Santa Fe by the conquistadors, were the principal people who built all three iterations of the chapel.

The bell inside the church was cast in 1356 in Spain. It sits on a rugged structure just inside the door of the church and you are encouraged to strike the bell. It gives off a wonderfully full sound, echoing throughout the church. Both Pam and I took a shot at being musicians! I mean, come on – how often do you get to touch something that is nearly 700 years old, let alone whack it with a hammer? Here is a short video of Pam’s playing.

Across the alley from the chapel, is a small adobe structure, used by the Tlaxcaltecan Indians while they constructed the chapel. It’s considered to be the oldest house in the USA. (I’m not sure how accurate that is, since the Taos Pueblo has been continuously inhabited for over a thousand years… but granted, the Pueblo is more than simply a house.)

Afterwards we went to the State Capitol, a more recently constructed circular building that houses the offices of the Governor, the Lt Governor and various other government officials, as well as the Legislature. It is an absolute must-do if you ever come to Santa Fe. You can tour the whole building. You start off on the top floor in the office of the Governor. There is a mini-museum, right in her office, showing the prehistoric beginnings of New Mexico. As you wind your way down the circular building’s three floors, the art goes from Old West, Spanish Colonial, to mid century, to modern. On the main floor was a recently opened gallery of modern quilted items. It’s an amazing place!

Since it was our anniversary, we naturally spent some time in a local casino! But about midnight, we went back to the main square and took a few pictures of the St Francis Cathedral and the Loreto Chapel all lit up.
Obviously it’s been tough to show everything we’ve seen here in Santa Fe in the blog posts. There are even more shots up in our gallery, that are not referenced in the posts, so if you are interested in seeing other interesting items that we’ve been seeing, they are up there!

Click here to get to the gallery.