… after revisiting a morado in Abiquiu for more photos. Morados are churches built by the Penitentes, a secretive order of the Catholic church which believes in self-punishment, including flagellation. Because of their extreme beliefs, the Church attempted to suppress the order. Morados are quite common throughout New Mexico and, for some reason, they’re usually picturesque!
We were on our way to the Taos Pueblo, closed earlier in the week for special tribal coming-of-age ceremonies. Taos Pueblo is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the US. The pueblo sits in a high mountain desert oasis, close to the city of Taos.
Taos Pueblo flourished mostly because there is a river running through it (actually, more of a creek), bringing clean water for drinking, irrigation, and even pottery making. The water flows from a sacred source in the mountains, known only as “Blue Lake.”
The river flows between the “North House” and the “South House,” two multistory structures over 1000 years old. They are individual homes built side-by-side and in layers, with no connecting doorways.
The pueblo today looks much as it did centuries ago, except for the addition of doors. Like Acoma, access used to be via ladders through roof openings. The rooftop access provided light, and served as a defense against intruders; ladders could be withdrawn, making access impossible. The village also has drying racks for making jerky, drying beans and other vegetables, and tanning hides. Many homes also use hornos. Some are storefronts to sell native products like pottery, leather goods, textiles, and many different kinds of food, including fry bread.
The pueblo buildings are adobe: earth, straw and water molded into bricks, stacked and fastened together with more adobe. The interiors are white-washed, and the roofs supported by large beams. We were fortunate to step inside a house, and found it to be surprisingly spacious, light and well-furnished.
There is no electricity or running water, and the interior rooms depend on skylights for light. Many houses use the original fireplaces for cooking, although some use wood stoves. The exteriors are plastered each year with fresh adobe.
The pueblo has a pretty church, San Geronimo; built in 1850, it’s one of the newest buildings in the village and a National Historic Landmark.
After a quick lunch at a Blake’s LotaBurger (Frank had the Lota Burger, while I opted for the smaller Itsa Burger), we went from old buildings to new, with a tour of the Earthships we saw earlier in our trip. Up close, these houses are even more fantastic. The pictures speak for themselves.
Next stop: the Millicent Rogers Museum, a collection of southwestern jewelry, paintings, pottery and religious artifacts. Millicent owned enough bracelets to outfit an army! She also dressed in traditional Navajo clothes – whipped up for her by her favorite New York designers! She was quite a character. The museum’s gift shop is a treat in itself, filled with museum-quality southwestern jewelry.
We had a nice New Mexican dinner at JoAnn’s Ranch O Casadas Restaurant in Espanola. Wonder where we will get sopaipillas when we get home ….
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