Smiles For Many Miles: Part 1~Santa Fe Churches

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Part 1~Santa Fe Churches

On the way home from Colorado, we spent a few nights in Santa Fe, New Mexico. With two full days to explore, we opted to spend them both at the Plaza and surrounding areas in historic downtown. It's a quaint, artsy locale that's rich in history. We found a lot to do and see--museums, art galleries, churches, stores, restaurants and more.

We visited two churches:

The Loretto Chapel

and

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

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The Loretto Chapel

It's quite beautiful!

The chapel houses a spiral staircase

with a miraculous story behind it.

The staircase as it appears today.
It looks quite different than when it was built.

For one thing, the architect died before

the stairs to the choir loft were built.

After lots of prayer by the sisters,

the staircase was built by a

mysterious man.

How about you read a very

short article about it here.

I think it's pretty amazing!

The writing in the photo below reads:

"This picture is a simulation of how the Staircase looked between 1879 and 1887 before Phillip August Hesch installed the banisters at the Sisters' request."

The staircase when it was built.

According to the short article

on The Loretto Chapel website,

"The staircase has been the subject of many articles, TV specials, and movies including 'Unsolved Mysteries' and the full-length movie titled The Staircase starring William Petersen and Barbara Hershey.

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St. Francis of Assisi