Faith on the Road – San Miguel Mission – Santa Fe, NM

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San Miguel Chapel is known in Santa Fe simply as “The Oldest Church”, and it is referenced in Wikipedia as the oldest church in the continental United States. San Miguel Chapel is the oldest Catholic Church built in the United States part of whose original walls are still standing and which is still used regularly for religious services.

San Miguel Chapel first appears in the surviving historical written record in 1628. Construction had begun by 1610 according to oral history, simultaneous with, or prior to, the official founding of Santa Fe.

The chapel is located in the Barrio de Analco, a national historic district of Santa Fe. The adobe church was constructed under the direction of Franciscan friars to serve a small congregation of soldiers, laborers, and Indians who lived in the Barrio de Analco. It was partially destroyed during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The present building dates from 1710, although it has undergone significant structural changes.

From top left to right:
St. Therese of Avila / San Miguel (St. Michael c. 1755) / St. Clare of Assisi
— St. Francis / Christ the Nazarene / St. Louis IX
— Possibly St. Francis / Archangel Michael (17th century) / St. Anthony

The San Jose bell, forged in 1360, came to the Americas in the 1490s and made its way here

2 comments

  1. WOW. Thank you so much for sharing this historical church with us. It’s beautiful. Some of us won’t ever be able to visit these places you show us here so I for one am so grateful to your website for giving us these visual tour’s and history of the places you show on your site. I’m so glad to have found your site. I love it. Thank you. Blessing’s and prayers to all of you 🙏

    1. God bless you, Eloy. Thank you for these kind words and all your uplifting comments

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