Taos, New Mexico - San Francisco de Asisis Mission Church and Historic Downtown Oct 23 & 24th

 As usual we hit the road fairly early for our 2.5 hour drive to Taos, NM. First though we we're going to fill up at a "tiny" gas station here in Chama. Ray drove in and needed to back out as none of the pumps were working. Oh well on to the next station. By 9 am we were on our way down Highway 84. 

The scenery is beautiful. This is definitely the way to go taking the 84 south to Esponola and 68 north east along the Rio Grande River Gorge to Taos. Thus going around the mountain range rather than over with the 64 and it's long hill coming off the plateau and squiggly lines on the map. We dropped 305m/1,000 feet down to Espanola and back up 305m/1,000 feet to Taos.

South to Espanola

Then turned up towards Taos on Highway 64 along the Rio Grande River. There were quite a few pull-outs for people to fish the river.

We arrived at Taos Vallery RV Park about 11:30 and they graciously allowed us to check in. After parking the rig we headed out for lunch and a bit of a tour. Kelly at the office, suggested a few restaurant choices to us and off we went.

We chose the Farm House Cafe, just outside of town. Delicious farm to table. Kind of an artist nook place with one of the stores next door with wind "whirlies". If I could fit one in the MH, I would've bought one lol

Next up, the San Francisco de Asisis Mission Church, not too far from our RV Park. Beautiful architecture.

The Spanish colonists were well established in New Mexico by the 18th century, a period when Spain was at the height of its imperial power in North America. Around this time, civilian Spanish and Mexican families began to settle permanently in Ranchos de Taos, in northern New Mexico. By the mid-18th century, this Catholic agricultural village founded the San Francisco de Assisi Mission. The Franciscans supervised the construction of the historic church between 1772 and 1816. A National Historic Landmark, the Spanish Colonial San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church is a well-preserved adobe building in the heart of the community at the center plaza of the Ranchos de Taos Historic District.

Spanish colonists began to settle permanently in the village of Ranchos de Taos in the mid-18th century. They moved from the larger Spanish and Pueblo community at Taos Pueblo to farm the fertile land, where they grew wheat and corn. To defend themselves against Comanche raiders, who were attracted to the rich Taos Valley, the settlers built their adobe homes and other buildings close together around a common plaza. The church sits on this plaza.

Completed in 1816, the San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church is a large, sculpted Spanish Colonial church with massive adobe buttresses and two front-facing bell towers. The architecture of the church is an impressive blend of native and Spanish styles. Three white crosses adorn the two towers and church entranceway. Four “beehive” shaped buttresses support the back of the church structure and two buttresses in front of each bell tower support the front. Inside the church, stairs lead to a choir loft above the entrance. The large sanctuary provides ample space for worshippers and visitors, and the altar is decorated with original Spanish woodworking and religious iconography. A thick adobe wall surrounds the church, cemetery, and forecourt.

Francisco de Assisi Mission Church remains an important center of community life and the citizens of Ranchos de Taos ensure it stays in good condition. During major restoration in 1967, workers applied a hard plaster to protect the exterior and prevent future damage, and added a new roof. They also replaced the church doors with accurate replicas of the originals, and the vigas -- wooden ceiling beams-- and 60 percent of the corbels with historically accurate reproductions. Despite this attempt to protect the church, the hard plaster proved to be damaging. Since this time, citizens of Ranchos de Taos, parish members, and visitors gather for two weeks each June to re-mud the exterior of the adobe church with a mixture of mud and straw.

Because of its imposing form and sculpted body, the church is a favorite subject for artists. Ansel Adams photographed the church for his Taos Pueblo art book and Georgia O’Keeffe painted a series of perspectives of the church. O’Keeffe once described it as “one of the most beautiful buildings left in the United States by the early Spaniards.” In most works, these artists favored the view of the back of the church, with its smoothly sculpted adobe beehive buttresses. The beautiful colonial-era church continues to attract artists and the Ranchos de Taos plaza is home to several galleries.

Back at 3:30pm we finished setting up and spent the rest of the afternoon reading. It's really hot outside and there's no shade at our site.

Tuesday morning, Ray's out the door at 7:30 am, heading to the Taos Pueblo for some sunrise shots hopefully. He actually got kicked out as it wasn't open and no visitors allowed. He decided to walk around the Taos Plaza area before coming back to the motorhome while the morning sun was still "golden".

Here are some shots in and around the Taos Plaza.

This is the outside of the Hardwood Museum of Arts, which isn't open today.

The John Dunn House Shops, another little plaza of small shops.

Ledoux Street, Private Residence.

The shops around Taos Plaza. A lot of the retail spaces are empty and there's a remodel/reconstrucdtion of the plaza currently and a lot of stores are closed Monday and Tuesday.

Father Martinez

Hotel la Fonda de Taos

Shortly before 10 am, we headed out again to the Pueblo but it's still closed. No signage but apparently it is closed Monday and Tuesday. We went back to the Plaza area so I could walk through a bunch of little stores. We also stopped at the Blumenschein Museum which is the inside of a house back from the 1900's to 1940's.

The Ernest L. Blumenschein House is a historic house museum and art gallery at 222 Ledoux Street in Taos, New Mexico. It was a home of painter Ernest L. Blumenschein, a co-founder of the Taos Society of Artists and one of the "Taos Six". It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965. Wikipedia

Next up, lunch at the Bent Street Grille in the John Dunn House Shops area. Ray noticed this place earlier this morning on his "photo tour". He could smell all the deliciousness lol. The clouds came in pretty thick, so no more picture opportunities outside and the inside places aren't open today.

After lunch we came back home for the afternoon. It's quite cool outside with the clouds, and only about 58F.