Ranchos de Taos Plaza is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico Ranchos de Taos is a census-designated place (CDP) in Taos County, New Mexico. The population was 2,390 at the time of the 2000 census. The historic district is the Ranchos de Taos Plaza, which includes the San Francisco de Asis Mission Chur ...

, about four miles south of the town of

Taos, New Mexico Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Cha ...

. There are 21 buildings over 84 acres in the historic district, including the San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church, a U.S.

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

Overview

Before Spanish colonialists settled in the Taos area in 1716, the area was home to Taos Native Americans who ranched and farmed in the area. There was a Spanish settlement in the Ranchos de Taos area by 1742 and there may have been residents of the Taos Pueblo who had farmed in the fertile area before that, in which case they sought the shelter of the

Taos Pueblo Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking (Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. The pueblos are considered to be one of the oldest c ...

during attacks by

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

tribes. The plaza is the original location of the village of Ranchos de Taos, built in the late 1770s. In 1776,

Francisco Atanasio Domínguez Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

wrote that "the settlement consists of scattered ranchos, and their owners are the citizens who live in the pueblo." At that time, Ranchos de Taos was the largest Spanish settlement in the

Taos Valley Taos Valley, also called Lower Taos Canyon, is a valley located in Taos County, New Mexico. It is bounded by the Rio Grande Gorge; the deep ravine, or Arroyo Hondo, of the Rio Hondo; and the Taos Mountain range. Included in the valley are Ranch ...

. It is believed the fortified plaza was built by 1780 when Juan Agustin de Morfi wrote that "the settlement forms a square plaza, very capricious. Its houses were almost finished in 1779 with towers at proportionate distances for their defense." The plaza included an observation platforms in round towers and torreones for defense. Fray Jose Benito Pereyro, priest of the

, agreed to serve the settlers of the village. Around 1815, the San Francisco de Asis Mission Church was built under his direction. In 1840 Matt Field wrote during his travels through New Mexico of Ranchos de Taos: "This town called the ranch lies at the base of a gigantic mountain and is watered by a swift stream that rushes from the ravine... It contains about 300 houses, and those are built completely together, forming a wall, enclosing a large square, in the center of which stands a church." A video of the art and history of the mission church may be viewed at the parish office and gift shop, where santos and

retablos A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether a ...

made by local artists are sold. Along the plaza are adobe buildings that are now retail stores, galleries, and restaurants, one of which was a historic trading post, now Trading Post Cafe.San Francisco de Asis Church
Taos.org. Retrieved July 23, 2014.

Gallery

File:Ranchos de Taos Plaza 3.JPG, Ranchos de Taos Plaza shops File:San Francisco de Asis Mission Church 5.JPG, San Francisco de Asis Mission Church File:San Francisco de Asis Mission Church 8.JPG, San Francisco de Asis Mission Church File:Ranchos de Taos Plaza 4.JPG, Ranchos de Taos Plaza house File:Ranchos de Taos Plaza 7.JPG, Ranchos de Taos Plaza shop and church building File:Ranchos de Taos Plaza 2.JPG, Ranchos de Taos Plaza restaurant

References

External links

Bird's-eye view & map
{{Registered Historic Places Buildings and structures in Taos County, New Mexico Geography of Taos County, New Mexico Tourist attractions in Taos County, New Mexico Taos, New Mexico Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico National Register of Historic Places in Taos County, New Mexico

Overview

Gallery

See also

References

External links