One of the oldest standing churches in the United States that is still in use today is the Mission San Miguel, which is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Built in circa 1610 to cater to local poor folks the Mission San Miguel is an adobe structure erected by the Tlaxcalan Indians of Mexico.
The history of the Mission tells us that with help from
the Indians, two priests built the humble Mission San
Miguel, which was eventually reconstituted by a bigger
building between 1615 and 1626 remains as the present-day
mission today. San Miguel Mission can be accessed from
Loretto Chapel via a
short trip south along Old Santa Fe Trail and across the
river.
Its immense walls and massive carved beams known as vigas and used to support roofs in adobe construction along with the carefully built corbel-arches that serve the same purpose define San Miguel Mission. The frontage of San Miguel Mission is fairly simple yet beautiful and defined by a wide and arched wooden doorway and two large bell towers on either side with high, shuttered windows topped with large, red crosses. San Miguel Mission has four sub-floors underneath the main floor where some of the bodies of the more important residents are buried and under the Sanctuary four priests’ bodies lie who died while faithfully serving the beloved church. General Manual Armijo, the last governor of New Mexico is also buried on the premises.
New settler of Spanish and Mexican background arrived in Sorocco in the later 17th century and found the San Miguel Mission in a very run-down state yet most of the important supporting structure of the building was still very much intact. Restoring the building took great care many hours of hard work but the project was completed and the Divine Service continued from then to present day.
San Miguel Mission Santa Fe holds about 250 people in
the pews that are found there today. San Miguel Mission
Santa Fe, in earlier days, didn’t have any pews
and the people attending services stood inside the building
or would kneel on the church floor. There was another
wing built in 1853 to accommodate another 150 people in
the popular church. San Miguel Mission Santa Fe correlates
with Loretto Chapel in that at the time the Sisters of
Loretto were asked to establish a school for girls, the
Christian Brothers were brought in to start a school for
boys and manage the Chapel of San Miguel.
San Miguel Mission remains one of the most visited attractions
in Santa Fe New Mexico with its rich and interesting history
and interesting adobe design. Attractions In Santa Fe
New Mexico run the gamut but the San Miguel Mission is
often visited and is close to ample shopping and dining
in the area. Some features of the church include the revered
paintings, the images of Jesus Nazareno and traditional
statue of Christ, which is carved from the cottonwood
root.
Finding attractions and things to do in Santa Fe New
Mexico is not hard as there are plenty of historical buildings
founded in the area, many which can be located long Old
Santa Fe Trail. The San Miguel Mission is located at the
Lower Old Santa Fe trail and is open year round Monday
- Saturday from 9am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4pm and for those
interested the mission is open for mass Sundays at 5pm.
During the winter the mission sometimes close early.One
of the oldest standing churches in the United States that
is still in use today is the Mission San Miguel, which
is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Built in circa 1610
to cater to local poor folks the Mission San Miguel is
an adobe structure erected by the Tlaxcalan Indians of
Mexico.
