Loretto Chapel (Chapel of Our Lady of Light)

Take a peek into the past! How does this illustration compare to the Chapel Loretto setting today?

NPS Image/Bruce MacPherson

Quick Facts

Location:

207 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Significance:

The chapel is famed for its 20-foot high, circular staircase, built in 1878.

Designation:

Historic site on the Santa Fe NHT, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro NHT, & the Old Spanish NHT.

MANAGED BY:

Loretto Chapel

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

The Loretto Chapel was built of local stone, though the people behind it came from far away. Newly appointed to oversee the Catholic Church in New Mexico, Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy arrived from France in 1851. The next year, he summoned sisters of the Order of Loretto, who endured a demanding journey from Kentucky down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi and Missouri. Lamy met them in St. Louis in July 1852 and began teaching them Spanish as they traveled toward Independence, Missouri, to start their passage along the Santa Fe Trail.

A week after leaving St. Louis, cholera struck aboard the steamer Kansas, killing the sister superior and sickening three others. The crew forced Lamy’s group ashore before Independence. One ill sister, Magdalen Hayden, recovered enough to continue as the new superior. She also documented the overland journey in her Spanish letterbook. Traveling toward Santa Fe, the sisters faced typical trail tribulations—like “high wind, thunder, and lightning”—and unusual moments, including a Catholic mass along the Pawnee Fork followed by a bison hunt. They arrived in late September and continued learning Spanish to reach their goal of opening a girls’ school.

In 1853, the sisters opened the Academy of Our Lady of Light, New Mexico’s first permanent school for girls. Between 1857 and 1863, they acquired seven properties (including Lamy’s former residence) to expand the school and make room for a chapel. Construction on the Loretto Chapel, funded by academy income, began in 1873—four years after the Cathedral of St. Francis nearby. Both structures reflected Lamy’s French architectural influences and shared architects, masons, and quarries.

While the cathedral was Romanesque, the chapel was distinctly Gothic, with pointed arches, tall spires, and stained-glass windows imported from France via the Santa Fe Trail. Its Gothic portal and rose window anchored a façade modeled on Paris’s 13th-century Sainte-Chapelle—essentially a piece of medieval France in New Mexico.

Yet the chapel’s most famous feature isn’t Gothic at all. Around its completion in 1878, no access existed to the choir loft. According to tradition, an unnamed carpenter appeared, built a 20-foot spiral staircase, and vanished without payment. Constructed with wooden pegs instead of nails and supported by a curved stringer rather than a central column, it has been called “miraculous” and even attributed to St. Joseph. Evidence, however, suggests one of three European journeyman carpenters.

In 1971, much of the property the Sisters of Loretto had assembled was sold for development, but the chapel was entrusted to the Historic Santa Fe Foundation. In a city known for Pueblo Revival architecture, the Loretto Chapel is an enduring reminder of the many influences that shaped Santa Fe.

Site Information

Location (207 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico)

The chapel is famed for its 20-foot high, circular staircase, built in 1878. While the Lorretines insisted the builder was St. Joseph, recent evidence points to French master carpenter Francois-Jean Rochas.

Safety Considerations

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail

Santa Fe National Historic Trail

Old Spanish National Historic Trail

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, Old Spanish Trail, Santa Fe Trail: Santa Fe, New Mexico Itinerary

Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.