choir loft

The adobe homes, ceremonial kivas, archeological remains, and the ruins of an original San Geronimo de Taos and its 1850 replacement reflect this coming together of American Indian and Spanish culture.

Founded in 1720, this mission was named for Saint Joseph and the Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo, the governor of the Province of Coahuila and Texas at the time. It was built on the banks of the San Antonio River and founded  by Father Antonio Margil de Jesús.

One of the earliest examples of a Spanish Colonial era mission that was established in 1630 by Franciscan missionaires at Zuni Pueblo. The original mission complex included an enclosed adobe convento. The mission was partially burned and the priest killed during the 1680 Pueblo Revolt.

During much of the Spanish colonial period, Santo Domingo was an important Franciscan mission center and the ecclesiastical capital of New Mexico. A mission church erected here before 1607 by Fray Juan de Escalona, was considered one of the largest and finest in New Mexico.

The Mission at San Ildefonso became the center of Franciscan activity in the north when first built. The church was burned down in the Indian revolt of 1696 and then rebuilt later by the Spanish.

San Buenaventura de Cochiti was completed in 1628, following the prototype for its time and location: thick adobe walls, a single nave and beamed ceiling. However, several interventions throughout the years transformed into a nondescript chapel, lacking of architectural style.

The Mission Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción at Zia rests on a mesa looking eastward. Zía was the principal settlement of Cumanes province. Fray Alonso de Lugo was placed in charge of Zia in 1598 and the first church followed soon thereafter.

The first church at the Pecos Pueblo was probably built by the Franciscan Fray Pedro Zambrano Ortiz by 1619. The people of the pueblo would not allow construction of a church closer to their dwellings.

Zuni Pueblo, after the mission’s reestablishment yet again, the Zunis joined the general pueblo uprisings in 1680 and destroyed Mission La Purísima Concepción a final time. The Zuni and the Spanish then abandoned Hawikuh completely, never occupying it again.

Founded by Father Kino, originally a Jesuit mission, taken over by Franciscans who rebuilt it around 1800. The mission was involved in mining, smelting, ranching, and farming activities. The national historic park has a replanted orchard and visitor center.