Loretto Chapel facts for kids
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Loretto Chapel
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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The chapel in 2006
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 Location in New Mexico
Location in the United States
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| Location | 207 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico |
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| Built | 1878 |
| Architect | Projectus Mouly |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| Part of | Santa Fe Historic District (ID73001150) |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Designated CP | July 23, 1973 |
The Loretto Chapel is a beautiful old Catholic building in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Today, it is used as a museum and a popular place for weddings.
This chapel is famous for its amazing spiral staircase. People call it the "Miraculous Stair." There are many stories and legends about how it was built. The Sisters of Loretto, who owned the chapel, believed its construction was a miracle. They even thought St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, helped build it.
Contents
History of the Chapel
The Loretto Chapel was built for the Sisters of Loretto and their girls' school, Loretto Academy. Construction started in 1873. Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy asked French architects, Antoine Mouly and his son Projectus, to design it.
Projectus Mouly was the main architect. He designed the chapel in the Gothic Revival style. This style looks like old European cathedrals. The chapel had tall spires, strong buttresses, and beautiful stained glass windows. These windows were brought all the way from France! The chapel was made from local sandstone. It took five years to build and was finished in 1878.
Students and nuns from Loretto Academy used the chapel every day. The school closed in 1968. After that, the chapel became a private museum and a place for weddings. The rest of the school buildings were taken down.
The Miraculous Staircase
The Loretto Chapel is best known for its unique spiral staircase. Many people call it the "Miraculous Stair."
What Makes the Staircase Special?
This staircase goes up about 20 feet (6 meters) to the choir loft. It makes two full turns as it rises. What's amazing is that it has no central pole or support! The staircase is made mostly of wood. It is held together only by wooden pegs. No glue, nails, or other metal parts were used in its main construction.
The inner part of the staircase has seven wooden pieces. The longer outer part has nine pieces. Experts say the wood is a type of spruce not found in New Mexico. There are 33 steps in total. Some people note that this number is the age of Christ when he died.
Handrails were added later, in 1887. An iron support was also added to a column. Even without these, the staircase was a marvel. Carpenters today still admire it. One expert called it "a magnificent work of art." He wondered how it was built with simple hand tools.
The Staircase Story
The staircase was built between 1877 and 1881. The chapel was almost done, but there was no way to reach the choir loft. The architect, Projectus Mouly, had died suddenly in 1879.
The Sisters of Loretto asked many builders for help. But no one could find a way to build a staircase in the small space. So, the nuns prayed for nine days to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the last day, a mysterious stranger appeared. He offered to build the staircase.
The stranger worked alone with only a few simple tools. After he finished, he disappeared without asking for payment. The Sisters never learned who he was. Some stories say he built it overnight. Others say it took six to eight months.
The finished staircase seemed to defy gravity. The Sisters believed it was a miracle. They thought the mysterious builder was St. Joseph himself. As the story spread, the staircase became a very famous place to visit in Santa Fe.
When it was first built, the staircase had no handrails. Some nuns and students were so scared they crawled down on their hands and knees! Handrails were added in 1887 by another craftsman, Phillip August Hesch. Since the 1960s, the staircase has mostly been closed to the public.
How the Staircase Works
Most spiral staircases have a central pole for support. The Loretto staircase does not. So, how does it stay up? It is supported by its "stringers," just like a normal straight staircase. But in this case, each stringer is twisted into a spiral shape.
The inner stringer is so tightly curved that it acts almost like a central support. Even though the legend says no glue was used, the way the wooden pieces fit together makes the staircase very strong. Wooden pegs were used instead of nails. This helps the wood last longer as temperature and humidity change.
An iron support bracket was added in 1887. This might have been to help with the staircase's "springiness." Even with this, people who used it said it still had a bit of bounce. However, it was very strong. A photo from 1959 shows at least 12 choir members standing on the steps!
Who Built the Staircase?
For a long time, no one knew who built the staircase. In the early 2000s, a historian named Mary Jean Cook had a theory. She thought the builder was François-Jean "Frank" Rochas. He was a rancher and carpenter from France.
Cook found an old newspaper article from 1895. It described Rochas's death and said he was "an expert worker in wood." It also mentioned that he built "the handsome stair-case in the Loretto chapel." Cook also found a note in the Sisters' records. It said Rochas was paid for "wood" in 1881. This suggests he did carpentry work for them.
However, some people disagree with Cook's theory. Another writer, John Clark, said the note in the logbook might refer to a different school. He says the logbook does not directly mention a staircase.
Other Similar Stairs
The Loretto staircase is very unusual, but it's not the only one of its kind. Another spiral staircase without a central support is at the Old Washoe Club in Virginia City, Nevada. This one also dates back to the 1870s. It was called "the longest of its kind without a supporting pole" by Ripley's Believe It or Not!.
There's also a similar staircase in the Gdańsk Town Hall in Poland. It was built between the 14th and 16th centuries. This staircase is also tall, spiral, and built without steel nails. People have noted how much it looks like the Loretto Chapel staircase.
Loretto Academy
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Loretto Academy was a girls' school founded in 1853. It operated until 1968. After it closed, the nearby St. Michael's High School, which used to be only for boys, started accepting girls. This way, the female students from Loretto Academy could continue their education.
See also
In Spanish: Capilla de Loreto para niños
- List of churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe
