San Miguel Mission facts for kids

Quick facts for kids San Miguel Archángel
The front exterior to the Chapel of San Miguel
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Status	Active
Location
Location	Santa Fe, New Mexico  USA
Location in New Mexico Show map of New Mexico Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Architecture
Architectural type	Adobe construction in the Romanesque fortress church style, with heavily buttressed walls and battlements on the flat roof.
Architectural style	Spanish
Completed	c. 1610
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Added to NRHP	November 24, 1968
NRHP Reference no.	68000032
Designated as NHL	November 24, 1968
Website
http://sanmiguelchapel.org/

The San Miguel Chapel is a very old church in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was built by Spanish settlers long ago. It was first built around 1610. Many people say it's the oldest church building in the United States!

The church has been rebuilt two times. Once in the 1600s, and again in 1710 after a big event called the Pueblo Revolt. Some parts of the older church might have been used again, but we don't know exactly how much. A beautiful wooden screen behind the altar, called a reredos, was added in 1798. This screen includes a wooden statue of Saint Michael from at least 1709.

The church is part of the Barrio De Analco Historic District. This district is a special place called a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Even today, church services are held there. As of 2020, a Mass is offered on the first Sunday of each month. You can find more information at www.sanmiguelchapelsantafe.org.

History of San Miguel Chapel

The church in the early 1870s

San Miguel Mission in 1904, after changes in the 1880s

The first San Miguel church was likely built soon after Santa Fe was founded in 1610. It was the very first church in the new settlement. It stood across the Santa Fe River from the main town. This area was called the Barrio de Analco. Native people, including some Tlaxcalans who came with the Spanish from Mexico, lived there.

Spanish missionaries wanted to teach the native people. So, they built this church for them first. They built it before their own main church near the Plaza. In 1630, a leader named Alonso de Benavides wrote about it. He said the main town needed a proper church. The one they had was just a simple hut. The friars focused on building churches for the Native Americans first.

The San Miguel Chapel was first written about in 1628. This shows it was already in use then. The first chapel was probably smaller than it is today. It had a simple front with no towers. Its old foundations were studied in 1955.

In 1640, there was a disagreement between the Governor and the Franciscan missionaries. This led to the Franciscans being forced out of Santa Fe. The mission was partly or fully taken apart. Later, the Governor was jailed, and the Franciscans returned. They were able to rebuild the mission.

The church was damaged again in 1680 during the Pueblo Revolt. This was when the Pueblo people worked together to push the Spanish out of New Mexico.

Rebuilding the Chapel (1692-1710)

When Diego de Vargas led the Spanish back to Santa Fe in 1692, he found the mission burned. But it could be fixed. In his report from December 18, 1693, he wrote about fixing the church. It was used by Mexican Indians in the town. He said it was small but needed for services. He ordered the native people to help fix the roof and walls. He also offered help from the Spanish soldiers.

A bigger rebuilding project happened in 1710. Don Agustín Flores Vergara led this work. His name is on a main wooden beam inside the church. The governor at that time, the Marquis de la Peñuela, is also named. The church was likely rebuilt on the same foundations. It had a similar layout, but the back part became trapezoidal.

In 1776, Fray Atanasio Domínguez visited San Miguel. He wrote a detailed description of the church. He noted its adobe walls and wooden ceiling beams. He also described the choir loft and its three windows.

After Domínguez' visit, perhaps in the 1830s, a bell tower was added to the front. By 1846, services were held only twice a year. The top of the tower fell during a storm in 1872. By the 1880s, the whole building was in bad shape.

In 1881, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe sold the church. The Christian Brothers, who ran the nearby St. Michael's College, bought it. They restored the church in 1887. They rebuilt the bell tower and added stone buttresses to support the walls. This made the church look more European. Later, in 1955, these European-style additions were removed.

Architecture of San Miguel Chapel

The church interior with part of the inscribed choir loft beam visible at the top

San Miguel Mission is built from adobe bricks. It has one long, rectangular main room called a nave. The back part, called the apse, is trapezoidal. The walls are very thick, about 5 feet (1.5 meters) wide.

The inside of the church is about 24 feet (7.3 meters) wide. It is 70 feet (21 meters) long and 25 feet (7.6 meters) high. The ceiling is held up by wooden beams called vigas. Two of these beams are square and are thought to be from 1710. The others are round and are newer.

Light comes into the church from a clerestory above the sanctuary. There is also a high window in the south wall. The choir loft is supported by a strong, carved beam. This beam holds up 13 other carved beams. The main beam has a special message carved into it:

The front of the church faces west. It has a central bell tower with a small window. There is a larger open space right above the main door. Five stone buttresses support the building. These were added in 1887. Two are on the front, and three are on the north side. To the south of the main room are other areas. These include a sacristy (where priests prepare), a robing room, and storage.

The Reredos (Altar Screen)

The reredos, dated 1798

The beautiful wooden screen behind the altar is called a reredos. It was made in 1798. People believe it was created by an artist known as the "Laguna Santero." This artist worked in New Mexico between 1796 and 1808.

The screen has large twisted columns on its sides. In the middle of the reredos is a special space. It holds a wooden statue of St. Michael the Archangel. He is shown holding a sword. This statue came from Mexico in 1709. It has been in the church since at least 1776.

Above the statue is a large painting of Jesus from the mid-1700s. It was found behind the screen during repairs in 1955. At the very top center is a painting of St. Michael from 1745. It is thought to be by Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco.

Around these two paintings are four oval oil paintings on canvas. They are from Mexico and date to the early 1700s. They show different saints: St. Teresa of Ávila, St. Gertrude, St. Louis, and St. Francis of Assisi. The whole reredos was once painted over. But it has since been restored to its original look.

On each side of the reredos are two paintings. They show the Annunciation. People believe these were painted by one of the students of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. In the early 1900s, some wrongly thought these paintings were by Cimabue and from 1287.

The San Miguel Bell

The San Miguel bell

Another interesting item at the church is its old bell. It used to hang in the bell tower before 1872. Now, you can see it inside the building. The bell is mostly copper and weighs about 780 pounds (354 kg). It has a message carved into it:

The date "1356" caught the attention of many people. The San Miguel bell and another similar bell were thought to be the oldest in the United States. However, this idea was proven wrong in 1914. A man named Benjamin Read found an elderly person who remembered the bell being made in Santa Fe. They confirmed the correct date was 1856, not 1356. Also, the bell does not look like real church bells from the 1300s. Those bells would have had Latin words and Roman numerals. It's also unlikely that two large, heavy bells would be brought from Europe when bells could be made locally. A small mistake during the casting likely made the "8" look like a "3".

See also

In Spanish: Misión de San Miguel (Santa Fe) para niños

• List of churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe
• Oldest buildings in the United States
• Oldest churches in the United States
• Camino Real de Tierra Adentro