Day 11 (D-50) The Palace of the Governors / The Plaza / The Loretto Chapel

Day 11  
I wish we had more time.    
I wish a day had more than 24 hours.  
I wish we could stay longer in Santa Fe.  

Santa Fe:  architecture, history, religion, art...

On our fourth day, which will be Friday, June 21st, we'll visit  

-- The city, with its Santa Fe style architecture.  The Pueblo Revival style or Santa Fe style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States, which draws its inspiration from the Pueblos and the Spanish missions in New Mexico. The style developed at the beginning of the 20th century and reached its greatest popularity in the 1920s and 1930s.  It is still commonly used for new buildings. Pueblo style architecture is most prevalent in the state of New Mexico.

An example:

Author=Daniel Schwen 

--The Plaza 

A plaza is an open, public marketplace, usually in the shape of a square.  The idea of a plaza was brought to this area by the Spanish.  The plaza in Santa Fe has been the center of public activity since the village was founded in 1610.  When the Santa Fe Trail was in its early days, Missouri merchants brought their merchandise to the plaza.  The 33-foot tall monument, called The Soldiers Monument was dedicated in 1867. This large structure was place in the center of the plaza to honor the Union soldiers who died at the nearby Battle of Glorieta Pass.  A second inscription on this monument honors the pioneers who had perished in conflicts with the Native Americans.  Many of those pioneers had traveled the Santa Fe trail.

--The Palace of the Governors  

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

Have a quick minute look on youtube where you can see, listen...and read the subtitles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63006y67j-o

If he speaks too quickly, click the wheel at the bottom of the screen to slow down the recording from normal speed to 0.75.

Closed in August 2018, the Governors Palace reopens this spring.  The temporary closure, for putting in a heating/ventilation/air-conditioning installation, also required the complete deinstallation of all of the Palace exhibits and has allowed the History Museum’s curators and educators to rethink the Palace’s interpretive plan, which has not been updated for at least 10 years, with some exhibits dating back to the 1970s.  We will be among the first to see this renovation and the new exhibitions there. 

--The Loretto chapel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvid_KnFq7s 

The Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe is a former Roman Catholic church that is now used as a museum and a wedding chapel.  

The chapel was commissioned by the Sisters of Loretto for their girls' school, Loretto Academy, in 1873.  The Gothic revival style chapel was built by a French architect, using spires, buttresses and stained glass windows imported from France via the Santa Fe Trail.  It took 5 years before it was completed.  The school closed in 1968 and was demolished, but the chapel became a privately-owned museum and wedding venue.

If you watch the video you'll discover what is so extraordinary inside the chapel...and the mystery that goes with it.

Here's a clue, this spiral staircase:

--The New Mexico History Museum
There we'll discover the history of New Mexico from ancient Native American cultures to the present. The museum holds about 20000 artifacts.

AND  we'll also visit,
--The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.
 But I'll take you there on another day on this blog.

My best,
Jane
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 --prevalent =   http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/prevalent
--spire =  Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris lost its iconic 19th-century Viollet-Le-Duc (the architect) spire when it burned in the fire on April 15, 2019.
--buttress = un contrefort
--clue = un indice
--artifacts = American spelling; artefacts = British spelling!   Artefacts = French spelling too!