Santa Fe’s cathedral, the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, is at once one of the most modern and most historic public buildings in the city, a 19th-century building with 20th-century art and 17th-century connections. It was definitely not what I expected!
Santa Fe, New Mexico has a surprising history, at least for those of us used to thinking of the U.S. as being colonized from east to west. It’s actually older than any city in the east north of Florida.
So, it’s not surprising that its cathedral and church history have long roots, back to the beginning of the 17th century, even though the cathedral itself is a monument to 19th-century civic and religious pride.
And part of its history, which includes long conflict with the original inhabitants of the area, is reflected in the church itself, and in its fittings and story. So, let’s take a moment for history before we go inside.
Spanish settlers started arriving in New Mexico around 1598, and settled along the Santa Fe River, which was an all-year river back then. Santa Fe, located where Tewa and Navajo settlements had existed, was started in 1607 to be the capital of the new Spanish province, and got the long-winded official name of La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis, or The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi.
The church which first stood on the site, along with other Spanish buildings, was destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt; the different Pueblo peoples, chafing under Spanish rule and exploitation, managed to force Spain out of New Mexico for over a dozen years.
After Spain re-conquered the province in 1692, a new church was built of adobe, and served as a mere parish church, although Santa Fe was the provincial capital (it’s actually the oldest of all the U.S. state capitals). After the U.S. took New Mexico from Mexico in 1846, Joseph Lamy, from France, was sent to be its first bishop, and later archbishop.
And when you’ve got a bishop, soon to be named an archbishop, you need to have a proper cathedral. Lamy, who was also tasked with enforcing church rules, which had grown very lax in the area, Lamy set about building one, and one that would emphasize a new era by standing apart from the surrounding one- and two-story adobe structures.
It was designed in Romanesque revival style, with round arches and square towers. Trivia fact: the left (north) tower is one course of bricks taller than the other.
The towers, by the way, were originally meant to have 160-foot steeples added, but funds ran short. But not before importing a rose window and statues of the Twelve Apostles from Clermont-Ferrand, France, not far from the bishop’s home town in Auvergne. Work started in 1869, and completed in 1886.
A tip of the hat to the past, a small chapel that was part of the 1714 church, was kept as part of the new cathedral. It contains a statue of Our Lady of the Rosary that was brought to Santa Fe in 1626, and carried away by fleeing Spaniards. It came back with them in 1693.
It’s referred to in English as “Our Lady of Peace” in English, and as “La Conquistadora” in Spanish. When I asked why “The Conqueror” is a “lady of peace,” I was told only that “she came back in peace.” The reredos under the statue is from Spain; a restoration in 2009 showed an older version beneath it.
But while the church is definitely a 19th-century building, its artwork is not. The reredos, or altar screen, depicting images of New World saints surrounding Saint Francis, was created for the 1986 anniversary renovation of the cathedral, as were the new doors, including bronze panels by Donna Quasthoff, depicting events in the church’s history in Santa Fe.
Along the nave, a series of paintings by Marie Romero Cash depicts the Stations of the Cross, placed in historic frames. They were created in 1997, when the current archbishop began to restore the interior to historic standards; a previous set, in ‘New Mexico Mission’ style, were removed many years ago and the walls whitewashed.
But my favorite piece in the building is the baptismal font in the center of the nave. It’s a large 8-sided pool of Brazilian granite that evokes Art Deco forms, and is said to represent a variety of religious motifs concerning the Apostles.
Although many of the recent features of the cathedral are rooted in the 1986 anniversary, there continue to be renovations, changes and restorations, including the small window above the rose window. It was placed in 2005, when the cathedral was made a basilica, and contains a stained glass dove, a replica of one by Bernini in St. Peter’s in Rome.
From the lobby, a view into a service in progress.
Over the centuries, the church in New Mexico, which came with Spanish colonizers, absorbed many members from Pueblo nations, who often continued or combined traditional religious practices. So it’s not altogether surprising that just outside the doors is a statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to be named a Catholic saint. Known as the Lily of the Mohawks, and canonized in 2012, she was born in New York and died in Canada in the 17th century, albeit with no connection at all to New Mexico.
