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El Santuario de Chimayó
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark


El Santuario de Chimayó Location in New Mexico Show map of New Mexico El Santuario de Chimayó Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	1 mi. NW of Santa Cruz Reservoir Dam
Nearest city	Chimayo, New Mexico
Area	6.4 acres (2.6 ha)
Built	1816 (1816)
NRHP reference No.	70000412
Added to NRHP	April 15, 1970
Designated NHL	April 15, 1970

El Santuario de Chimayó is a special Roman Catholic church located in Chimayo, New Mexico, in the United States. The word Santuario means "sanctuary" in Spanish, which is a holy or sacred place. This church is a National Historic Landmark because it's famous for its interesting founding story and as a popular place for pilgrimages today.

Almost 300,000 people visit the Santuario every year. Many people consider it the most important Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States.

What Does El Santuario de Chimayó Look Like?
The History of El Santuario de Chimayó
Pilgrimages and Holy Dirt
Legends of the Santuario
Gallery
- Pilgrimage on Good Friday, March 21, 2008
See also

What Does El Santuario de Chimayó Look Like?

The front of the church with the Potrero Ditch nearby.

The Santuario is found on Juan Medina Drive in Chimayo. You enter the church through a courtyard surrounded by walls. The church is built from adobe, which is a type of sun-dried brick. It has a bell tower on each side.

The church building is about 60 feet (18 meters) long and 24 feet (7 meters) wide. Its walls are very thick, more than 3 feet (about 1 meter) wide! Pointed tops were added to the towers, and a metal roof was put on after 1917, probably in the 1920s. The beautiful wooden doors were carved by a carpenter named Pedro Domínguez in the 1800s.

Inside, there's an unusual entrance area with two rooms side-by-side, which were once used for storage. The main part of the church, called the nave, holds a large crucifix (a cross with a figure of Christ) that is 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall. You can also see other cool folk-art decorations, including five reredoses (decorated screens behind the altar) and a small statue of St. James the Great.

There's a small room called el pocito, which means "the little well." This room has a round pit filled with "holy dirt" (tierra bendita). Many people believe this dirt has special healing powers. Next to this room, there's a prayer room where you can see many ex-votos (gifts offered in thanks for a miracle), photographs, old crutches, and other items left by people who say they were healed.

The History of El Santuario de Chimayó

Bernardo de la Encarnacion Abeyta, who built the first chapel.

In the early 1800s, about 19 families lived in the area then known as El Potrero de Chimayó. Potrero means "pasture" or "grazing land." The land where the Santuario stands today belonged to Don Bernardo Abeyta. He was one of the first members of a religious group called Los Hermanos de la Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno (the Penitentes) in that area.

Don Bernardo was likely very devoted to the Christ of Esquipulas. This is a famous pilgrimage site in Guatemala where people believe the clay has healing powers. In fact, one of Don Bernardo's nephews was even named Juan de Esquipulas in 1805.

Around 1810, Bernardo Abeyta built a small chapel dedicated to the Christ of Esquipulas on the same spot where the church is now. On November 15, 1813, he asked Father Sebastián Álvarez, a local priest, to write to the church leaders in Durango (Mexico, as New Mexico was part of New Spain then). He wanted permission to build a larger church where people could worship Jesus as he appeared at Esquipulas and attend Mass.

The next day, Father Álvarez wrote the letter, mentioning that people were reporting cures and many pilgrims were already visiting. On February 8, 1814, permission was granted. By 1816, the small chapel was replaced by the larger church we see today.

Don Bernardo's daughter, Carmen Abeyta de Chaves, later inherited the property. She kept it even when others tried to make her give it to the Church. A big part of her income came from donations given by pilgrims. Her daughter, María de los Ángeles Chaves, inherited it after her.

In 1929, when the owners faced money problems, a group called the Spanish Colonial Arts Society bought the property. They then gave it to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, which is the local Catholic Church organization.

Because of its importance, El Santuario de Chimayó was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Pilgrimages and Holy Dirt

The El Pocito room, showing the pit with "holy dirt."

Every year, about 300,000 people from all over the world make pilgrimages to the Santuario de Chimayó. These special journeys are most popular during Holy Week, especially on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Some people go to ask for blessings, while others go to fulfill a promise they made.

Many pilgrims walk long distances to get there. Some even walk from Albuquerque, which is about 90 miles (150 kilometers) away! While people have been making pilgrimages here since the 1800s, the tradition became even more popular after World War II, especially among survivors of the Bataan Death March.

When visitors come to the church, many take a small amount of the "holy dirt" from the pocito room. They often hope for a miraculous cure for themselves or for someone who couldn't make the trip. In the past, some people even ate the dirt, just like pilgrims at the original Esquipulas shrine in Guatemala. Today, people usually rub the dirt on themselves or simply keep it.

The Church replaces the dirt in the pocito from nearby hillsides. They do this sometimes more than once a day, adding about 25 to 30 tons of dirt each year! The Church itself does not say whether miracles have happened at the Santuario.

There are also special celebrations at the Santuario:

The feast of Our Lord of Esquipulas is celebrated on January 15, or the Sunday closest to that date.
The feast of St. James the Great (Santiago) is celebrated on the fourth weekend of July.

Legends of the Santuario

There are several interesting stories and legends about how the Santuario came to be.

One legend says that before the Spanish settlers arrived, there was a hot spring near the site. The Tewa Native Americans believed this spring had healing powers and was sacred.

Another version of the legend tells that during Holy Week, Bernardo Abeyta (or a friar, a type of monk) saw a bright light shining from a hillside. He dug in the dirt with his bare hands and found a crucifix. He took the crucifix to the Santa Cruz church, but it mysteriously returned to the spot where he found it. This happened three times! After the third time, Father Álvarez and Abeyta decided to build a chapel right on that spot to keep the crucifix.

A different story says that Abeyta was watching his sheep and thinking about his blessings, even though he was sick. Suddenly, he saw a vision of his patron saint, San Esquipula. The saint beckoned to him. Abeyta went to the spot where the saint appeared and knelt down. He was immediately cured! Other people were also cured there, and so Abeyta built the chapel to show his thanks.

Yet another legend suggests that the crucifix belonged to a priest from Esquipulas. This priest had come with the first Spanish settlers to Chimayo. He was killed by Native Americans and buried in Chimayo. In the spring of 1810, a flood from the Santa Cruz River (a small stream that flows into the Rio Grande) uncovered his body and the crucifix. People who remembered the priest then dedicated the shrine to the Christ of Esquipulas.