SANTA FE SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR Start at Casa Cuma B&B, End at Canyon Road Jumpstart your day with a walking tour of Santa Fe.Start your tour from the B&B.Turn left on Paseo de la Cuma.At the Stop sign, cross to the other side of Old Taos Highway and turn right.Pass Ghost Ranch’s office on your left.The sculptures to your left are GHOSTRANCHSCULPTUREGARDEN. Enjoy the wonderful art in the sculpture garden. This is just a sample of the local art. It is a good place to take some pictures. At the signal light, cross over Paseo de Peralta and turn right.There is a STATUE OF PERALTA on your left. Peralta was the first governor from Spain.He started the city, built the Plaza and the Palace of the Governors.
Please turn left on Grant.Go two blocks and turn right on Johnson Street.Second building on your right is the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.
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GEORGIA O’KEEFFE MUSEUM Opened in 1997, this museum houses the largest collection of O'Keeffe works in the world. The 13,000-square-foot space is the largest museum in the United States dedicated solely to one woman's work. You might also want to stop at the museum's O'Keeffe Café for one of its creative lunch or dinner entrees. Go back to Grant Avenue and turn right.Take a left on Palace Avenue.
Visit LewAllen and Manitou Galleries on your left.
Go east a block.On your left is the Museum of Fine Arts.
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
Located at 107 W. Palace Ave., the museum holds works by Georgia O'Keeffe and other famed 20th-century Taos and Santa Fe artists. The building is a fine example of pueblo revival-style architecture, and it is home to the renowned St. Francis Auditorium. As you walk east from the Museum of Fine Arts, on your right is the historic Plaza.
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THE PLAZA
This square has been the heart and soul of Santa Fe, as well as its literal center, since its concurrent establishment with the city in 1610. Originally designed as a meeting place, it has been the site of innumerable festivals and other historical, cultural, and social events. Long ago the plaza was a dusty hive of activity as the staging ground and terminus of the Santa Fe Trail. Today, those who congregate around the central monument enjoy the best people-watching in New Mexico. In 2004, they also enjoyed watching an excavation that revealed Native American treasures, with plans for continued work there. The dig came about as a result of construction on a new gazebo/bandstand.
Santa Feans understandably feel nostalgic for the days when the plaza, now the hub of the tourist trade, still belonged to locals rather than outside commercial interests. Facing the plaza on its north side is the:
PALACE OF THE GOVERNORSMUSEUM Today the flagship of the New MexicoStateMuseum system, the Palace of the Governors has functioned continually as a public building since it was built in 1610 as the capitol of Nuevo Mexico. Every day, Native American artisans spread out their crafts for sale beneath its portal.
Leaving the Plaza from Palace Ave, at the corner of Palace and Washington is Frank Howell Gallery.This gallery used to be a gas station.Visit Frank Howell gallery for some of the finest serigraphs. A short distance farther on your left, at 113 E. Palace Ave, is the PrincePlaza. PRINCEPLAZA A former governor's home, this Territorial-style structure, which now houses The Shed restaurant, had huge wooden gates to keep out tribal attacks.The Shed is a great place to stop for lunch. Next door is the SenaPlaza.
SENAPLAZA This city landmark offers a quiet respite from the busy streets, with its park-like patio. La Casa Sena Cantina (a great place for dinner) is the primary occupant of what was once the 31-room Sena family adobe hacienda, built in 1831. The Territorial legislature met in the upper rooms of the hacienda in the 1890s.We highly recommend having dinner at La Casa Sena Cantina.Please make a reservation.
Turn right (south) on Cathedral Place to number 108 on your right.This is the IAIAMuseum.
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INSTITUTE OF AMERICANINDIANARTSMUSEUM Here you'll find the most comprehensive collection of contemporary Native American art in the world.
In 1991, an Act of Congress transferred to the Institute a Federal building, constructed in the Pueblo Revival style and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The IAIAMuseum relocated to its new permanent home in downtown Santa Fe, one block from the historic Santa FePlaza and the Palace of the Governors. The Museum’s collection has grown to house over 7,000 works of art and has been referred to as the “National Collection of Contemporary Native American Art.”
The IAIAMuseum is a vital space for contemporary Native American arts and culture. Its interpretive approach is to design programs based on the Museum’s exhibitions and collections. The viewer can be exposed to the multiple environments in which Indian artists live and create. With this view, the Museum hopes to cut through the conventional discourse of “Contemporary vs. Traditional” or the “Two Worlds” concepts which tend to sterilize and oversimplify studies in Native American fine art. The IAIAMuseum strives to offer the public, instead, a more complex view of contemporary Native art that reflects its diverse cross-cultural influences and explores its complicated historical development through its educational programming.
Across the street, step through the doors of the St. Francis Cathedral Basilica.
ST. FRANCIS CATHEDRAL BASILICA Built in Romanesque style between 1869 and 1886 by Archbishop Lamy, this is Santa Fe's grandest religious edifice. It has a famous 17th-century wooden Madonna known as Our Lady of Peace. After leaving the cathedral, cross the road and walk towards the plaza on San Francisco street. On your left is French Pastry Shop.Take a break and treat yourself. Leaving the pastry shop, go back towards the plaza and turn left on the historic Old Santa Fe Trail.Go a block and here, in the southwest corner you'll find the Loretto Chapel.
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LORETTO CHAPEL This chapel is more formally known as the Chapel of Our Lady of Light. Lamy was also behind the construction of this chapel, built for the Sisters of Loretto. It is remarkable for its spiral staircase, which has no central or other visible support.
Continue south on Old Santa Fe Trail.On your left at 401 Old Santa Fe Trail, is the Mission of San Miguel.
THE CAPITOL - ROUNDHOUSE
The Capitol building is one of the most well-kept secrets of Santa Fe. There are 456 pieces of art in the capitol that makes the capitol the largest gallery in Santa Fe.
The capital is open all business days.
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MISSION OF SAN MIGUEL Built around 1612, this ranks as one of the oldest churches in the United States. Across de Vargas Street from the Mission of San Miguel is the so-called oldest house in the US.
OLDEST HOUSE IN THE UNITED STATES Whether or not this is true is anybody's guess, but this is among the last of the poured-mud adobe houses and may have been built by Pueblo people. The new owners, who run a crafts shop here, date the place between 1200 and 1646.
Keep going east on de Vargas street.As you come to Paseo de Peralta, turn right and cross over carefully.
Visit two of the finest galleries in Santa Fe.
NEDRA MATTEUCCI GALLERY and the GERALDPETERSGALLERY As you come out of the galleries, go to your right.Here you will find the entrance to the Canyon Road. CANYON ROAD Extending for a mile or so before you, Canyon Road was once a Native American trail used by the Pueblo tribes and traders. When the Pueblo tribes came to launch their 1680 insurrection against the Spanish colonists, they used this route. Today it's lined with art galleries, shops, and restaurants. Come back home to Casa Cuma whenever you are ready to relax in a comfortable bed, or sock in a bubbling hot tub.
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SANTA FE SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR
Start at Casa Cuma B&B, End at Canyon Road
Jumpstart your day with a walking tour of Santa Fe.Start your tour from the B&B, and visit the following historic sight along with wonderful galleries, craft shops, restaurants, and much much more:
