San Miguel Mission

San Miguel Mission
San Miguel Mission
	The front exterior to the Chapel of San Miguel.
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Status	Active
Location
Location	[[Santa Fe, New Mexico\|Santa Fe]], New Mexico ; USA
Architecture
Type	Adobe construction in the Romanesque fortress church style, with heavily buttressed walls and battlements on the flat roof.
Style	Spanish
Groundbreaking	1610
Completed	1610 to 1626
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Added to NRHP	November 24, 1968
NRHP Reference no.	68000032
Designated as NHL	November 24, 1968

For the Jesuit Mission of San Miguel in southern Brazil, please see São Miguel das Missões

San Miguel Mission, also known as San Miguel Chapel, is a Spanish colonial mission church in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Built between approximately 1610 and 1626, it is claimed to be the oldest church in the United States. The church was damaged during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 but was rebuilt in 1710 following the Spanish reconquest and served for a time as a chapel for the Spanish soldiers. The wooden reredos, which includes a wooden statue of Saint Michael dating back to at least 1709, was added in 1798. Though the church has been repaired and rebuilt numerous times over the years, its original adobe walls are still largely intact despite having been hidden by later additions.

The church is a contributing property in the Barrio De Analco Historic District, which is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.^[3]

Sunday mass is still held at the chapel.

Gallery

San Miguel Mission, altar & interior, 1934. Historic American Building Survey photo
Altar (1798) of the church.
Altar (1798) of the church.
Original thick-walled church bell within San Miguel Mission at Santa Fe, New Mexico with the inscription "San Jose Rogad Por Nosotros Agosto 9 de 1356/1856" in English, the bell reads "St. Joseph Pray for us August 9th, 1356/1856". It is thought that the 8 was changed to a 3 during the late 1800's as a means of luring in tourists.