Holy Faith. Santa Fe. Enter the doors in the first photo, depicting events in the life of the local church, to see the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, whose Feast Day was a week ago today. Founded in 1610 by the Spanish, Santa Fe was originally named the Royal City of the Holy Faith (Santa Fe) of St. Francis of Assisi, shortened to just Santa Fe. The cathedral is “only” 132 years old, but it has been beautifully remodeled for contemporary liturgy. The Stations of the Cross have been redone in New Mexico Santero style, as you can see in the 6th station, Veronica wiping the face of Jesus. The baptismal font can accommodate full immersion, and it is smack in the middle of the long “old-style” church, flanked by the three sacred oils on one side and the Paschal (Easter) candle on the other. Some of the cathedral’s stained-glass windows are traditional, and others are chunks of glass, as you can see. The “rosary tree” is outside Loreto Chapel, where people just started decorating the tree near the entrance with their rosaries.
All the rest of the photos are street scenes from around the downtown. There is artwork (and sculptures) everywhere, and several areas where artists are set up selling their wares either along streets or in small open-air markets. Colorful blankets and textiles are ubiquitous, and we even passed a shop advertising itself as “textiles and clothing.” We love the dragon peeking over the roof of the Ellsworth Gallery as well as the sculpture in front of the Worrell Gallery, which reminded us of the Celtic god, Cernunnos. We saw lots of cow skulls for sale, and the clusters of hanging red chilies are everywhere in New Mexico, even hanging on the front of our hotel. The last two pictures show the typical adobe architecture in Santa Fe, and a beautiful park with a stream along one of the streets. And if you have ever been to Santa Fe in summer and wished for the smaller crowds of the off-season….think again! It was quite crowded, with tour groups walking around and tour buses maneuvering the narrow streets. Truly, a beautiful and unique place. We seemed to see something unusual or artistic everywhere we looked.
