San Miguel Chapel History

401 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe NM 87501

www.sanmiguelchapelsantafe.org

 

 

1610

 

One of the most significant yet overlooked national historical sites, San Miguel Chapel is the oldest Catholic religious structure in the continental United States. Built about the same time the City of Santa was founded, circa 1610, 

San Miguel sits upon its original foundation over a pueblo Indian dwelling (c. 1300). It is located at the crossroads of the Old Santa Fe Trail, El Camino Real and the Spanish  Trail. The chapel began as a shrine to St. Michael the Archangel and has served as a place of Catholic worship for indigenous Mexican, Franciscan Missionaries, Spanish Conquistadores, and native Pueblo Indians. Original construction was thought to be rectangular in shape and composed of a dirt floor and mud roof. 

 

The Chapel was most likely constructed by the indigenous people from the province of Tlaxcala (Tlas-cal’-a) Mexico who came to New Mexico as Catholic, Spanish Allies and settlers. They built the chapel for themselves and the Spanish soldiers under the directions of the Franciscans. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chapel is located in the Barrio de Analco district, which means the “other side of the river” in Nautl. The district is 2 ½ blocks south of the Plaza and is where the non-Spanish worked and lived. The church was partially destroyed in 1640 at the hands of Luis de Rojas, a provincial governor who feuded with church authorities. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1680

 

San Miguel was targeted by the Pueblo Revolt as a base for Spanish allies. The roof was burned and part of the walls were damaged. Everyone hiding in the chapel perished. It was a  concerted attack that drove the Spanish as far south as El Paso for a 12-year exile. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1692-1693, Governor General Don De Vargas fought his way back to Santa Fe and resettled the area for the Spanish. The second rebuilding of San Miguel was completed in 1710. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1798

 

The mayor of Santa Fe, José Antonio Ortiz funded major repairs and the construction of the beautiful altar screen, Retablo (reredos) which is indicative of the Spanish Colonial architecture by the “Laguna Santero”, an anonymous but hugely influential artist who worked in New Mexico between 1996 and 1808. Its twisted “Solomonic columns” on either side are thought to be the first examples in New Mexico and are very typical of the Laguna Santero. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1848

 

A three-tiered bell tower was added to the chapel and in 1856, the 780- pound San José Bell was added to the tower.

 

The origins of the San José Bell are unknown. Legend and oral tradition state the bell was cast in Spain to commemorate a Christian victory of the Moors. The bell made its way across the ocean and up through Mexico where Señora Loretta Ortiz, the mayor’s wife, purchased the bell in Vera Cruz and brought it to Santa Fe. Another legend says the bell was cast in sand in New Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1859

 

The newly appointed Archbishop Lamy commissioned the La Sallian Christian Brothers to start a school for boys. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A three-story building, now called the Lamy Building, was constructed close to San Miguel which eventually housed the dormitory students from 1859-1968. The third floor no longer exists due to a fire in 1926, and the Lamy building was granted status on the National Register Historic District in 1975. St. Micheal’s High School used the chapel during this time period and is still the proud owner and caretaker of this historic treasure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1872

A horrific windstorm destroyed the two tiers of the tower and knocked the San Jose Bell to the ground leaving it either broken into pieces or cracked. It has been inside the chapel since 1895. Its origins are unknown.

 

1887-1889

 

The 100% adobe Chapel was in need of serious repair. Due to lack of funds and manpower it was going to be destroyed. The villagers came together and, as a gift, built stone buttresses to shore up the adobe walls, and a tar and gravel roof to replace the old mud roof. Two years later, buttresses were added to the north wall. The Christian Brothers added a wooden floor three feet above the earthen floor, a communion rail and a large door at the western entrance. Thus began the centuries-old tradition of community support, still in practice today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1955 

 

 

Ms. Elizabeth Boyd (A Spanish Colonial art curator) initiated a restoration of the beautiful Retablo (reredos) and removed five layers of white paint that was used to cover soot and dirt on the Retablo. The original dirt floor and sanctuary steps beyond the communion rail can now be seen through the plexiglass altar floor windows. Many human remains from the builders of the chapel in 1610 and pieces of pottery were discovered buried below the church using ground penetrating radar. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1957

 

Señor Roman Rochas, Mexican carved the 14 lovely, pine stations of the cross as a gift in return for the Christian Brother’s kindness shown him during an illness. Rocha’s other gifts reside at the Brothers’ residence at St. Michael’s High School. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2008

 

St. Michael’s High School entered into a collaborative relationship with Cornerstones Community Partnerships organized by Director Emeritus David K Blackman for the preservation of San Miguel Chapel. Cornerstones is noted for its preservation, restorations and maintenance of old adobe buildings throughout Northern New Mexico. In 2010, The Portland cement stucco was removed, the adobe was repaired, and adobe plaster finish coat was applied. In the spring, of 2020, another external chapel wall was restored and preserved with adobe plastering and lime whitewash. A video of this process can be viewed on the chapel website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artwork in   the Chapel

Includes  

two Hyde paintings that date back to the 1630s. They are some of the few surviving locally produced sacred artworks of the period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the left wall of the sanctuary is a painting of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a  15th-Century Byzantine icon. The original icon is housed in St. Alphonsus de Liquori church in Rome. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ARTWORKS ON THE ALTAR SCREEN - details below (From viewers’ left to right, bottom to top) #1-9 starting at the top, left to right. 

Ovals from Viceroyalty of New Spain, 18th Century. 

Oval #1: Saint Teresa de Avila/Santa Teresa

Painting #2: (Top Center) Archangel Michael/San Miguel (New Mexico, c.1755, restored)

An early work by Spanish-born artist, mapmaker, and civic leader Bernardo Miera y Pacheco (1713-1785, commissioned and gifted to the Chapel by patron Manuel Saenz de Garvisu)

Oval #3 Saint Clare of Assisi/ Santa Clara

(Contemporary of Saint Francis and co-founder of the Franciscan order of nuns, the Poor Clares (This portrait was previously identified as Santa Gertrudis/Gertrude the Great of Germany)

Oval #4: Saint Francis of Assisi/San Francisco

Painting #5: Christ the Nazarene/Jesus Nazareno (New Spain, XIX restored)

Oval #4: 

Saint Louis IX, King of France/San Luis Rey.

Bulto #7: unidentified saint, New Mexico, XIX. Possibly St. Gertrude or St. Francis.

Bulto #2: Archangel Michael/San Miguel, New Spain, XVIII

Bulto #3: likely Saint Anthony/San Antonio or Staint Roche (Roque). New Mexico, early XIX.