El Santuario de Chimayo
a.k.a. El Santuario del Senor Esqipulas
1 mi. NW of Santa Cruz Reservoir Dam, Chimayo, NMThe Santuario at Chimayó is a very well-preserved and unrestored example of a small adobe pueblo church with superb original religious paintings. The low flat-roofed adobe church, set in a wall-enclosed garden, has two twin tapering front towers with belfries. The interior is notable for its original Spanish-Indian decorations -- a heavy timber ceiling of closely spaced vigas (beams) supported on carved brackets and the simple plaster walls lined with a low painted dado and hung with numerous religious paintings. Behind the draped altar is a high reredos, decorated with painted conventional designs and religious symbols. The Santuario is still an active church and is open to visitors. NSHSB: 12/8/69
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.