Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe Loretto Chapel History
An Enduring Mystery New Mexico

Loretto Chapel is one of Santa Fe's most popular and enduring attractions. Although it no longer functions as a Roman Catholic church, it was built as a church in 1877. Today, the Loretto Chapel is one of the most sought-after wedding venues in the Southwest and home to a fascinating museum and notorious spiral staircase, which is the perhaps the Santa Fe chapel's most famous feature of all. Known as the "Miraculous Stair," the Sisters of Loretto have professed the 20-foot staircase built without nails or any external source of support to be a miraculous work of St. Joseph. To learn more, visit www.lorettochapel.com/index.html.

Hotel Near Loretto Chapel -

Located less than a half mile from Loretto Chapel, the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza Hotel offers a convenient location for experiencing some of Santa Fe's finest historic sites and landmarks. Guests of the Santa Fe hotel enjoy close proximity to Santa Fe Plaza, a choice of spacious luxury casitas with kiva fireplaces and oversized guestrooms, 7,000 sq ft of flexible meeting space, business center, fine dining at El Canon Restaurant, breakfast at Pinon Grill, fitness center, and an outdoor pool with hot tub and kiva fireplace. Reserve now conveniently and securely online.

Loretto Chapel History -

The earliest history of the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico dates to 1872, when it was first commissioned by the Bishop of the Santa Fe Archdiocese, Jean-Baptiste Lamy. Bishop Lamy commissioned the "Our Lady of Light Chapel," as it was originally named, to be built and put into the care of the Sisters of Loretto.

The design of the chapel was entrusted to Antoine Mouly, a noted French architect of his day. Mouly designed the convent chapel in the Gothic Revival style after the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. In keeping with Gothic Revival style, Santa Fe's Loretto Chapel features flying buttresses, spires, and intricately detailed stained
glass windows.

Loretto Chapel Staircase: An Enduring Mystery -

Swirled in mystery, the Loretto Chapel's most famous feature is the helix-shaped spiral staircase leading to the choir loft. Surrounded by stories and legends, the building of the staircase is held to be a miracle by the Sisters of Loretto and has been the subject of wide speculation, even a television episode. The Loretto Chapel was featured in an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" entitled "The Staircase," which investigated the case in a dramatic re-enactment of events. Although the story of its construction at the hands of French woodworker Francois-Jean "Frenchy" Rochas, which was put for by author Mary Jean Straw Cook in the 1990s, is regarded as a plausible explanation, the rumors continue to this day.

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Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza

Loretto Chapel

Directions

Head east on W San Francisco St toward Sandoval St. Turn right onto Don Gaspar Avenue. Take the 1st left onto E Water St. Take the 2nd right onto Old Santa Fe Trail.