Nine must-see historic sites in Santa Fe
These historic places in and around Santa Fe range from simple adobe homes to ornate cathedrals to Pueblo villages that have existed for thousands of years. Explore the guide to learn more about the city's deep ties to its people and places.
Georgia O’Keeffe Home and Studio
This 5,000-square-foot Spanish Colonial-era compound was in ruin when famous 20th-century artist Georgia O’Keeffe found it. She bought the property in 1945 and, for the next four years, supervised its restoration. It became a source of inspiration for some of her most acclaimed works.
• Related: From Winslow Homer to Georgia O'Keeffe: Inside historic artists' homes and studios
Ohkay Owingeh is one of 19 federally recognized pueblos, or tribal communities, in New Mexico. The historic, 25-acre village's flat-roofed homes and ceremonial kivas have been fashioned out of adobe mixed from the local soil for so many generations that its origins disappear into the past.
• Related: Acoma Sky City
• Related: Forces of nature: Adobe forts of the Southwest
Manhattan Project Historic Sites
The Manhattan Project’s three primary sites speak eloquently to the project’s enormous scale and the frantic, round-the-clock effort required to create an atomic weapon ahead of the enemy. Santa Fe's Los Alamos was a historic base for scientists and engineers who worked on the bomb.
• Related: Secret cities: The fascinating history of Manhattan Project National Historical Park
A 33,000-acre site in northern New Mexico, this national monument contains more than 3,000 sites that date as far back as AD 1100. Bandelier is one of the nation’s largest collections of pre-Hispanic archaeological sites.
The Palace of the Governors is said to be the oldest continuously occupied public building in the country. Built around 1610 by Spanish colonists, this one-story adobe structure was the seat of government over hundreds of years.
• Related: The history and intrigue of Santa Fe's Palace of the Governors
Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, built in 1887, was the fourth iteration of churches built on this historic site. (The first was a simple pueblo constructed in 1610 — the same year Santa Fe was founded.) The Romanesque revival cathedral was built around the former adobe church.
The centerpiece of the historic Loretto Chapel, built in 1873, is its "miraculous staircase." Neither the identity of its creator nor the type of wood used to construct it are known. But the biggest mystery is the way the staircase was built: It has two 360-degree turns and no visible means of support.
La Fonda’s history can be traced back over 400 years and, as the oldest hotel on the historic Santa Fe Plaza, it emits a timeless, elegant aura. This historic hotel embraces its New Mexican heritage and leaves a lasting impression on its guests.
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• Related: Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza
El Zaguan (James L. Johnson House & Garden)
Originally owned by Santa Fe Trail merchant James L. Johnson, this Spanish Pueblo-style home was later transformed into a hotel by wealthy widow Margretta Deitrich. Deitrich was a suffragist and advocate for American Indian rights.
