Santa Fe part four

Santa Fe

Part four - the town

The Governor's Palace, Santa Fe

Friday August 6th - Saturday August 14th 1999

Santa Fe is known to New Mexicans as the city different, and when you arrive, it's easy to see why. Just about everything about this town is different from the rest of the US. First of all, when they talk about historic buildings in Santa Fe, unlike in the rest of the US they mean more than 100 years old - Santa Fe is home to the oldest church in the US dating back to 1610, the oldest house in the US dating back to around the same time, and the oldest public building, the Palace of the Governors shown above, which also dates back to 1610. Second of all the architecture is completely different from what we've seen elsewhere - most buildings have at least an adobe façade, and many of them are actually built entirely of adobe.

Can you guess what this building is?

Adobe is a mixture of dirt, water and straw (acting as a binding agent) which is baked in the sun until hard. The standard technique is to build walls out of large adobe bricks, and then to cover these walls with a smooth layer of adobe. It makes for a very old feel to the town, and although there is some suggestion that much of this is deliberately done for the tourist industry, there is no mistaking the sense of history which permeates Santa Fe. There are no tall tower blocks (at least as far as we saw), and the town seems to have avoided the wholesale redevelopment which has robbed many American cities of much of their character and individualism. Even newer buildings (like the car park in the picture above) retain an old feel to them; we saw a number of houses being built in the adobe style. This gives Santa Fe a coherence lacking elsewhere in the US.

San Miguel Mission

In keeping with its old feel, Santa Fe is home to what is reputed to be the oldest church in the US, the San Miguel Mission. Part of the outside walls date from 1610. The roof was destroyed during the Pueblo Indian Revolt in 1680, and was not rebuilt until years later. The decoration inside is simple, save for an ornate painted wooden altar which forms the centrepiece for the chapel. Right next to the church is the Vielo Casa, supposedly the oldest house in the US, although there is some debate as to the accuracy of this claim.

The oldest house in the US?