LORETTO CHAPEL
Photos
Loretto Chapel, the first Gothic building west of the Mississippi, was patterned after Sainte Chapelle in Paris, and built at the request of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1873 and 1878. The Chapel is best known for its choir loft staircase, called Miraculous due to its two complete spirals without center or side supports (defying engineering logic) and due to the legend of its construction.
Directions: From Interstate 25, Exit 284, travel north on Old Pecos Trail approximately 1.6 miles to the traffic light where Old Pecos Trail continues to the right (if you continued straight, the road becomes St. Michael's Drive). Travel north on Old Pecos Trail approximately 1.7 miles to its end, where Old Santa Fe Trail comes in from the east. Continuing straight (with a slight left turn), Old Pecos Trail ends where Old Santa Fe Trail continues. Travel approximately 0.6 miles on Old Santa Fe Trail to the Chapel, located on the right side of the road, between West Alameda St. and East Water St.
July 2000
This model of the staircase. When the Chapel was completely built, it was discovered that no method for getting from the chapel to the choir loft was included in the design. Many carpenters were called in for advice but all concluded that because of the height of the loft, a conventional stairway would take up too much room in the chapel below. It was a question of either using a ladder or rebuilding the balcony.
The front of the Chapel. The Sisters of Loretto decided to make a novena to Saint Joseph, whom they felt quite close to. Legend has it that on the last day of the novena, a gray-haired man with a donkey and tool chest stopped by and asked if he could build the staircase. Mother Magdelene gave her approval. The Sisters who were present during the time of its construction stated that the only tools used were a saw, a T square, a hammer, and a tub for bending water-softened wood. When Mother Magdelene looked around for the man, in order to pay him, he was not around. Even the local lumber yard had no record of any wood being purchased for the project.
The Staircase consists of 33 steps and two complete turns of 360 degrees each, without a center support. It rests against the loft at the top and on the floor at the bottom, where the entire weight appears to be supported. Wooden pegs, rather than nails, were used throughout.
Architects and builders have come through the years to inspect this masterpiece of beauty and construction and never fail to marvel how it manages to stay in place. There were some who felt it should have crashed in a heap the first time it was used, yet it still stands after many years of daily use. The railing, itself a work of art, apparently was not a part of the original construction, but was added about two years later.
For further information, write The Loretto Chapel, 211 Old Santa Fe Tr, Santa Fe, NM 87501, call (505) 982-0092 or use the web site.
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