Go West .... (12) Loretto Chapel

     After our excursion to the Salinas Trail Missions we needed a day or two to unwind which was done in Santa Fe. If I have mentioned this before I apologize for repeating myself but ---- our trusted 2004 Subaru Forester must have felt like it was at a family reunion, it seems that every 4th or 5th car in Santa Fe was a Subaru of some sort, either Outback or Forester plus a few others.
    I may also have mentioned that we have switched from Windows XP to Windows 7 (Win 7 and I do not get along very well), meaning that our trip notes, which were saved on Win XP, suddenly have turned into "machine language" and they are no longer readable by ordinary human beings. As a result I have to rely on memory, which is a most dangerous thing at my age, as I have a number of fairly regular "senior moments" but can't remember why they occur.
     Our first stop of the day was at "Santuario de Guadalupe", which is the oldest sanctuary in the United States dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. The church itself is typical Southwest and not very imposing. There were some helpful people inside and a rather small gift shop.
     One should note the various links to additional information about this particular church;
http://www.yelp.com/biz/santuario-de-guadalupe-santa-fe
http://www.bing.com/attractions/search?q=Santuario+de+Guadalupe%2c+Santa+Fe&qzattrid=w294718&qpvt=santuario+de+guadalupe+santa+fe&FORM=DTPATA
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=santuario+de+guadalupe+santa+fe&qpvt=santuario+de+guadalupe+santa+fe&FORM=IGRE

         Then we went on to that absolutely must see place in  important place in Santa Fe, the place with the miracle staircase that has been the main "actor" in a movie or two; the place everyone knows about - Loretto Chapel.
        Rather than giving you, the reader, a lot of details about this chapel I will add links to the various websites dedicated to the chapel and its history, however, in the context of American (US) history it is important to note that Santa Fe was established as a city 10 to 11  years before the Pilgrims, those of our nations founding myth, even left Europe. The links will follow after the photographs however I need to recommend that you see the 1998 movie "The Staircase" with Barbara Hershey and Diana Ladd. I seem to also remember a much older B/W movie from years ago on the same subject but can't find it by "googling".


The Altar area of Loretto Chapel

 



A view of the famous staircase as it looks now.

The choir loft which necessitated the staircase as previously
 the good sisters had been using a simple ladder to get  up and down.

Another look at the staircase.

 

Loretto Chapel from the outside (that should be obvious).

Another view of Loretto Chapel.

And the promised links which offer much information.

http://www.lorettochapel.com/history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretto_Chapel
http://www.philipcoppens.com/santafe.html
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/loretto.asp
http://www.lorettochapel.com/

     It is rather difficult to put into words the images and impressions one gets from a location like Loretto Chapel, it has to be experiences, preferably not as a "tourist" having to see this and that, and then checking off a list of "I have been there and there and done this and that. Rather it should be a spiritual journey walked with those early sisters as they struggled to build this place and to make it function.
     When you go to Santa Fe, make this a stop.