El Santuario de Chimayó

Before the church was even built, the area of Chimayó, New Mexico was inhabited by Native Americans, more specifically the Tewa and Pueblo tribes since the 12th century. Before Spaniards came to the area, the Tewa tribe used the area as a site for healing. In 1680, the Native Americans in Chimayó revolted against the Spaniards, ending the Spanish rule over the area. The Tewa tribe named Chimayó as "Tsi-Mayoh" after one of the four sacred hills above the valley, which lies directly behind El Santuario. Legend says that there was a hot spring that once flowed near the site of El Santuario that the Tewa tribe used for their healing powers. The hot spring was believed to have healing spirits, which ultimately dried up and left the world. Also, the Native Americans in Chimayós shared the area with supernatural beings.

Towards the early 19th century, there were records indicating 19 families living in Chimayó, and it was a center for the Los Hermanos de la Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestra Padre Jesús Nazareno; the members are known as the Penitentes. The land where El Santuario is situated once belonged to Don Bernardo Abeyta, who was one of the first members of the fraternity. In 1810, the built a small church to the Christ of Esuipulas where El Santuario would be located later. Legend says that Abeyta saw a beam of light coming from the hills of Chimayó in 1810. When he went to investigate, he saw that the light was emerging from the ground, and with his bare hands, he started digging the earth where the light was. Abeyta eventually dug up a crucifix, which he then took it to the parish priest of Santa Cruz de Cañada, Father Sebastian Álvarez, who believed that a church need to be built to house the crucifix. Another version of the legend say that Abeyta saw Saint Esquipulas, who cured him from an aliment, and Abeyta built the chapel to show gratitude to the saint. Also, some have said that the crucifix belonged to a priest from Esquipulas, Guatemala, who accompanied the first Spanish settlers to Chimayó. The crucifix and the priest's grave were said to have been discovered in 1810, and the crucifix was added onto a shrine at Abeyta's church.

After Abeyta permission from Father Álvarez, El Santuario de Chimayó was built between 1814-1816, replacing Abeyta's church. Also known as El Santuario de Nuestro Senor del Esquipulas, the chapel took inspiration from El Esquipulas, a shrine in Guatemala, which was established soon after Spanish conquistadores entered the region of the Mayan tribes. Abeyta passed down the chapel to his daughter, Carmen, and she ran the chapel despite being forced to turn it over to the Catholic Church. Carmen then passed it down to her own daughter, María de los Ángeles, who mostly kept the chapel running through donations made by pilgrims who came to the chapel. In 1929, the Spanish Colonial of Arts Society bought the chapel and donated it to theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe, a diocese in the southwestern region of the U.S. Despite the chapel's financial troubles, Ever since its conception, Native Americans, Hispanics, and other people of faith have traveled to El Santuario de Chimayó to ask for themselves and others to be healed and to offer prayers of petition and gratitude for favors they have received. Throughout the property, there are numerous shrines, artifacts, murals, statues that commemorate various Catholic saints and figures, such as the Saint Esquipulas, La Virgen de Guadalupe and Saint Francis of Assini. El Santuario contains two smaller chapels that have strong historical significance, the Lord of Esquipulas Chapel and the Santo Niño de Atocha Chapel.

In 1970, the chapel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places,and in the same year, it was designated as a National Historic Landmark. Some people have said that El Santuario is one of the most beautiful examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in New Mexico. Today, over 300,000 visitors come to El Santuario de Chimayó annually, and many consider the site as the most significant Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States. In addition to being open to the public, El Santuario holds Sunday Mass, weddings, and yearly pilgrimaging events. Not far from the location, El Santuario has a gift shop where people can buy souvenirs and trinkets.

"El Santuario de Chimayo, the Lourdes of America," Archdiocese of Santa Fe. 2007. Accessed July 16th 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20080229061552/http://www.archdiocesesantafe.org/AboutASF/Chimayo.html.

"El Santuario de Chimayó," National Register of Historic Places. April 15th 1970. Accessed July 16th 2020. https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NM/70000412_NHL.pdf.

Santuario de Chimayó. n.d. Accessed July 16th 2020. https://www.holychimayo.us.

Santuario de Chimayó, New Mexico, nps.gov. n.d Accessed July 16th 2020. https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/american_latino_heritage/El_Santuario_de_Chimayo.html.