Sarah Mitchell
The Loretto Chapel, a former Roman Catholic church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is now a privately owned museum and wedding chapel. The Sisters of Loretto, a teaching order, commissioned the chapel in 1873 for their girls' school, Loretto Academy. The chapel is known for its helix-shaped spiral staircase, which has been the subject of legend. The Sisters of Loretto considered the circumstances surrounding the staircase's construction miraculous, crediting Saint Joseph with its construction.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Location | Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States |
| Type | Former Roman Catholic church |
| Current use | Museum and wedding chapel |
| Features | Unusual helix-shaped spiral staircase ("Miraculous Stair"), Gothic Revival design, stained glass windows, buttresses, and spires |
| History | Commissioned by the Sisters of Loretto in 1873 for their girls' school, Loretto Academy; designed by French architect Projectus Mouly |
| Construction | The spiral staircase was built between 1877 and 1881, stands 20 feet tall, has 33 steps of the same height, and lacks a center support or nails |
| Builder | The identity of the builder is unknown, but the Sisters of Loretto believed it was Saint Joseph |
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What You'll Learn
The Miraculous Staircase
The Loretto Chapel, a former Roman Catholic church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is now a privately-owned museum and wedding chapel. It is known for its helix-shaped spiral staircase, nicknamed the "Miraculous Staircase", which rises 20 feet (6.1 m) to the choir loft while making two full turns, all without the support of a newel or central pole. The staircase is built mostly out of wood and is held together by wooden pegs, with no glue, nails or other hardware used. The exact wood used to build the staircase has been confirmed to be a type of spruce which is not native to New Mexico and is not identified anywhere else in the world. There are 33 steps, which has been noted to be the age of Christ at the time of his death.
In the early 2000s, amateur historian Mary Jean Cook proposed that the probable builder of the Miraculous Staircase was François-Jean "Frank" or "Frenchy" Rochas (1843–1894), a reclusive rancher and occasional carpenter who came to New Mexico from France in the 1870s. Cook found evidence in the Sisters' logbook that Rochas had been paid for carpentry work in 1881, and that he owned a large set of carpentry tools. Others have disputed Cook's theory, however.
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Sisters of Loretto
The Sisters of Loretto, or the Loretto Community, is a Catholic religious institute founded in rural Nerinx, Kentucky, in 1812. The Sisters of Loretto are sometimes confused with the Sisters of Loreto, whose members included Mother Teresa of Calcutta, but the two are not related. The Sisters of Loretto were founded by three women—Mary Rhodes, Ann Havern, and Christina Stuart—under the guidance of Fr Charles Nerinckx. Their mission was to educate the poor children of the frontier, and they were one of the first groups to receive Black novices.
The Sisters of Loretto established schools all over the American Southwest, including in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1850, Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy was appointed by the Church to the New Mexico Territory. Seeking to spread the faith and bring an educational system to the territory, he wrote letters pleading for priests, brothers, and nuns to preach and teach. The first to answer his call were the Sisters of Loretto, who arrived in Santa Fe in 1852 and opened the Academy of Our Lady of Light (Loretto) in 1853. The school soon grew to around 300 students. In 1873, the Sisters commissioned the Loretto Chapel for their girls' school, Loretto Academy. Archbishop Lamy brought in French architects Antoine Mouly and his son Projectus to work on the St. Francis Cathedral project, and they also designed the Loretto Chapel in a Gothic Revival style. The chapel is known for its unusual helix-shaped spiral staircase, which the Sisters of Loretto viewed as a miracle, believing that the builder must have been Saint Joseph himself.
The Sisters of Loretto have continued their educational work and founded two colleges: Loretto Heights College in Denver and Loretto College in Webster Groves, Missouri. They have also founded numerous schools and nonprofits, and they engage in various charitable activities, including environmentalism and lobbying against nuclear weapons and militarism.
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St. Francis Cathedral
The Loretto Chapel is a former Roman Catholic church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. It was commissioned by the Sisters of Loretto in 1873 for their girls' school, Loretto Academy. The chapel is known for its helix-shaped spiral staircase, called the "Miraculous Stair", which seems to defy physics as it ascends 20 feet without any central support.
Now, here is some information about the St. Francis Cathedral:
The full name of the cathedral is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, and it is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was constructed under the direction of Bishop Lamy, who was appointed to the New Mexico Territory in 1850 and became the first bishop of the Diocese of Santa Fe in the same year. The cornerstone of the cathedral was laid in 1869, and Lamy became archbishop in 1875.
The cathedral is known for its beautiful architecture and stunning stained glass artwork. It features a statue of St. Francis, the patron saint of the diocese, as well as fourteen life-size sculptures by Gib Singleton that depict the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, as developed by St. Francis of Assisi. The cathedral also has a prayer garden, which is located in the remnants of Bishop Lamy's former gardens.
The music and choir at the cathedral are highly acclaimed, with the parish investing a significant amount of time, energy, and funding into its music ministry. The cathedral grounds are well-maintained and beautiful, and the surrounding neighbourhood offers a variety of dining and artistic experiences.
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Gothic Revival design
The Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a former Roman Catholic church that is now a privately owned museum and wedding chapel. The Sisters of Loretto commissioned the chapel in 1873 for their girls' school, Loretto Academy.
The chapel was designed by French architect Projectus Mouly in the Gothic Revival style, complete with spires, buttresses, and stained glass windows imported from France. The Gothic Revival style emerged in the second half of the 18th century and continued throughout the 19th century, reflecting a taste for buildings inspired by medieval design. It is characterised by the use of pointed arches for windows, doors, and decorative elements, as well as castle-like towers, parapets, and tracery windows.
The Gothic Revival movement began in England as a conscious effort to revive medieval Gothic forms. It soon spread to other parts of Europe and the United States. In the US, the first "Gothic stile" church was Trinity Church on the Green in New Haven, Connecticut, designed by Ithiel Town between 1812 and 1814.
The Gothic Revival style was influenced by the picturesque character of ruins and the mellowing effects of time. It often featured decorative wooden elements, vertical board and batten siding, and incised wooden trim, also known as "gingerbread". This style was particularly popular for country homes and houses in rural or small-town settings.
The Loretto Chapel, with its Gothic Revival design and helix-shaped spiral staircase, has become a famous tourist attraction in Santa Fe. The staircase, constructed between 1877 and 1881, stands 20 feet tall and has no centre support, seemingly defying physics. The Sisters of Loretto considered its construction miraculous and believed that the builder must have been Saint Joseph himself.
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The Sisters of Loretto Academy
The Sisters of Loretto, or the Loretto Community, is a Catholic religious institute founded in the United States in 1812. Based in the rural community of Nerinx, Kentucky, the Sisters of Loretto have communities in 16 US states and in Bolivia, Chile, China, Ghana, Pakistan, and Peru. The Sisters of Loretto are sometimes confused with the Sisters of Loreto, whose members included Mother Teresa of Calcutta, but the two groups are not related.
The Sisters of Loretto were founded by three women, Mary Rhodes, Ann (or Nancy) Havern, and Christina Stuart, under the guidance of Fr Charles Nerinckx in Kentucky as The Little Society of the Friends of Mary at the Foot of the Cross. Their mission was to educate the poor children of the frontier, and they soon expanded their work to Missouri in 1823 and Kansas in 1847. In 1852, four years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ceded the Southwest to the United States, Loretto responded to the appeal of Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy to work with the Spanish-speaking children of Santa Fe. Led by Sister Magdalen Hayden, six nuns travelled down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Independence, Missouri, where they began the arduous overland wagon trip on the Santa Fe Trail, becoming some of the first women to make this journey.
In 1853, the Sisters of Loretto established Our Lady of Light Academy, the first school for young women in the New Mexico Territory. At a time when public education did not exist, the Sisters of Loretto provided education for women, and in 1853, 44% of young women attending school in New Mexico were educated at the Loretto Academy. Over the next fifty years, the Sisters of Loretto positively impacted the lives of women in New Mexico in great numbers. The Sisters also opened a chapel, one novitiate, and ten additional branch houses throughout New Mexico.
The Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, with its famous "miraculous" helix-shaped spiral staircase, is the most visible structure standing today that is attributable to the Sisters of Loretto. The chapel was commissioned by the Sisters of Loretto for their girls' school, Loretto Academy, in 1873. Archbishop Lamy brought in French architects Antoine Mouly and his son Projectus to work on the St. Francis Cathedral project, and they also designed and built the Loretto Chapel. The Gothic Revival-style chapel, patterned after King Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, was completed in 1881. The staircase, which ascends 20 feet without any obvious means of support, was considered a miracle by the Sisters of Loretto, who believed that the mysterious builder must have been Saint Joseph himself.
The Sisters of Loretto have had a significant impact on education in Texas and beyond, establishing schools and community services. They opened St. Joseph Academy in El Paso in 1892, Sacred Heart School in 1892, and numerous other parochial schools in the early 1900s. They also founded two colleges: Loretto Heights College in Denver and Loretto College in Webster Groves, Missouri. In addition, the Sisters have been recognized for their charitable activities, founding 21 nonprofits in Colorado and receiving NGO status with the United Nations.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the Loretto Chapel was a Roman Catholic church. It is now a privately-owned museum and wedding venue.
The Loretto Chapel is known for its helix-shaped spiral staircase, called the "Miraculous Staircase". The staircase was built without a centre support and without nails.
The Loretto Chapel was built by French architects Antoine Mouly and his son Projectus.
Construction of the Loretto Chapel began in 1873 and was completed in 1878.
The Loretto Chapel was commissioned by the Sisters of Loretto for their girls' school, Loretto Academy.
