Santa Fe
Santa Fe is the oldest European settlement in North America, being founded in 1607. The city sits at the western base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in rugged terrain about 20 miles east of the Rio Grande River. A small stream, the Rio de Santa Fe, flows down from the mountains to the Rio Grande and formed a year-round water source for the Spanish settlement. It has been the center of government for the surrounding region from its’ founding, first under the Spanish, then the Mexicans, and the United States since 1846 as a territory and finally becoming the state capital when New Mexico was admitted to the Union in 1912. Not only the center of government but also the center of culture for the region, today Santa Fe is a great blend of past and present. The historical preservation effort began in early on in 1926 and building codes were soon established that require the use of the historic pueblo architecture and adobe facades. There are no gleaming glass walls in Santa Fe.
A consequence of the early preservation commitment is the road structure. There are no neat, wide grids of streets in Santa Fe. A small city, population around 70,000 people, Santa Fe is compact as the street grid is essentially a large spider web, centered on the plaza, historical and present center of the city. Another consequence of the road structure is that it is not a very motor home friendly city. Streets, particularly close to the plaza, are crooked and narrow once you are off the main arterials. Fortunately for me, the RV park that I like to stay at is right on one of the main bus lines and for $1 I can get a day pass to go anywhere. All of the major attractions are accessible by city bus, so it works well.
One of the guiding principles of my travels is that I make no pretense of trying to see or experience everything. My eclectic adventures reflect my eclectic tastes, and this visit to Santa Fe is no different. I know I’ll be back again, so this time I concentrate on four very different adventures: the plaza area, the New Mexico state capitol building, Canyon Road, and the Bug Museum.
The Plaza District
The center of Santa Fe is the plaza, surrounded by some of the oldest buildings in North America, including the Palace of Governors, which is the oldest public building in North America. This area is very walkable, (even for an old man like me!) and the plaza and surrounding blocks are full of stores, art galleries, and restaurants. Here is a picture of the plaza along with pictures of streetscapes from the plaza and surrounding blocks.
Behind the walls and covered walkways that front the street and/or plaza, many of the buildings have the characteristic inner courtyard typical of a Santa Fe adobe. This picture is of the inner courtyard of a store just off the plaza. You enter through a narrow passageway about 10 feet long and then this explosion of color meets the eye.
I’m more than happy to commit the memory to a photo because there sure is no way I am buying anything. One of the other realities of Santa Fe is that it is very much an upper class tourist destination and the prices of everything reflect that reality. Those ceramic suns on the table are about 10 inches in diameter, designed to hang on the wall, and have price tags ranging from $79 on up. Those hanging garlands of ceramic chilies dangling from the beam in the back start at $49. Someone else is going to have to pump up the economy on this day…
Due to building codes there are no tall buildings in Santa Fe and so the spires of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi dominates the skyline of the city just as it has since its’ completion in 1887 after 18 years of construction. The site of the cathedral has been a continuous place of worship since the Franciscans Friars built the first church in 1610. The current cathedral was started in 1869 and was constructed around the old adobe church. Once the exterior walls and roof were completed, the adobe church was dismantled and removed through the front doors. The spires on the twin towers were never completed due to a lack of money and so the iconic cathedral has stood like this since 1887.
New Mexico State Capitol Building
Running along the south side of the plaza district is the Rio de Santa Fe, or the Santa Fe River. This dependable year-long source of water was key to the establishment of the city. As always, I marvel at the use of the word “river” as it’s pretty clear that if poor Augie is locked up all day the force of the stream when he goes to the bathroom will be stronger than the power of the water in the river. It does provide a nice little greenbelt between the tight adobe blocks of the plaza area and the more spacious state capitol complex a block further south.
The New Mexico Capitol building is essentially a giant doughnut, rising three stories above the ground with an open rotunda in the center that rises the full three stories with a stained glass skylight above.
The design is elegant in its’ simplicity. The upper two stories are offices and the legislative chambers for the Senate and the House of Representatives are buried beneath the ground floor. Above is the view looking down into the Senate Chamber. Note that the circular building plan extends even to this, the basement level. The entire building is an art museum dedicated to the artwork of New Mexico. All of the hallways are decorated with various pieces of art and the grounds outside of the building also are decorated with sculptures created by New Mexican artists.
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