**** Not much food in this one; but if you're interested in one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the United States, read on.
On our last morning in Santa Fe, we woke and partook of the breakfast in the hotel's restaurant. I really enjoyed the red sauce, smoky, slightly spicy, that smothered my eggs.
We then checked out and since this was a Sunday made one stop on the way out of Santa Fe. We had always wanted to check out the Railyard Artisan Market, so we headed on over to the artsy Railyard District.
The crafts portion of the market is contained in a large hangar like building. Santa Fe has a reputation as an artistic haven. We got a taste of it while walking along Canyon Road on our way to dinner at Geronimo.
The artisans were very welcoming and seemed to really enjoy chatting and talking about their products.
We ended up making a few purchases and had a fun time.
We'll be sure to return when we're back in Santa Fe.
Railyard Artisan Market
1607 Paseo De Peralta
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Sunday 10am – 3pm
Our next destination was Taos. But there was one stop I wanted to make on the way. There are two basic routes to Taos, the shorter "Low Road" or the scenic "High Road". On the way to Taos we decided on the taking the High Road for one simple reason. I wanted to visit El Santuario de Chimayo. Now, I don't know of many folks who have heard of Santuario de Chimayo, which is kind of strange since it is considered one of the largest pilgrimage sites in the United States. Each year, on Good Friday, up to 300,000 Pilgrims make their way to the church. Where it is said that the "Holy Dirt" of the church can perform miracles.
It is said that this area has been sacred ground since the times of the Pueblo Indians in the 12th Century. After the Spanish gained control of the area; there was an influx of Spanish and Mexican settlers in the Potrero area. According to one of the stories, in 1810, a member of the Penitentes, Don Bernardo Abeyta, saw a light emanating from a hillside. Upon finding the source of the light he began digging with his bare hands and found a crucifix, which was dubbed the crucifix of Our Lord of Esquipulas. According to the legend, the cross was moved to Santa Cruz, but the icon would then disappear, then reappear where it was unearthed. After the third instance of this happening, the cross was left at the site and a church was built there. It is said that the earth from that original pit performs miracles.
In fact, one of the rooms of the chapels is filled with crutches, canes, braces with photos and letters testifying to the miracles.
One of the other rooms contains the pit with the miracle producing soil. It was Sunday and quite busy, so I decided to not take any photos inside the chapels out of respect for those visiting.
But for us, one of the most fascinating things we saw was this……
Our Lady of Lavang? This was something new to me. I had never heard of this. I quickly sent texts to some of my "FOYs"; which led me to this – site. Apparently, when those of Catholic faith were prosecuted and outlawed in Vietnam, some escaped and sought refuge in the forests around Lavang. Whereupon, on one night, the vision of Mary came upon them. Whoa, like you can't make this stuff up!
It's quite a story. The woman who cuts my hair these days is Vietnamese-Catholic and I mentioned this to her, she went ahead and told me the story. When I told her about visiting El Santuario de Chimayo, I was told that it is an "important place" that she has visited several times!
It was an interesting bit of history that I never knew about.
Look, for a good part of my childhood I was raised in what I consider a "cult". It is neither here nor there, but I find belief, faith, and how it drives history fascinating. And coming from Hawai'i I think here's something innate that has us respect different beliefs and cultures.
Our last stop was this shop.
Where we picked up some beans and ground chili that I use to "liven up" dishes.
