Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico was on the list of "Must see" and since it was at the heart of the Santa Fe town square, we could walk over there and check it out. So we did all of the sightseeing recommended there. I don't think we left a stone unturned. If we did, pardon us and we'll come back and check it out. They had a saying there, if you ring this bell, you'll be back. So we all rang that bell because we do, we do want to come back here.
I find it hard to believe that the nuns at the Loretto Chapel had failed to get the carpenter's name and all. Oh, oh, I am skipping. Let me get to the story of this Loretto Chapel. It's an interesting story and something, I'd like our children to remember that they were here. I doubt they even remember it but ha, we got pictures to prove to them that they were here!
Anyway, this exquisite Gothic revival building, the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878. It truly is a beautiful church. And I marvel how they could make this huge overlook of not building the stairway to the upstairs singing chapel while the church-goers sit down below in the pews. When the builder realized their biggest goof, they couldn't remedy that mistake but to tear down the entrance part and rebuild to make room for stairs.
The nuns couldn't afford to make those changes. What they did was to pray and pray for a miracle.
Guess what happened? It came one day in the form of a wandering carpenter, who in six months constructed a 23 1/2 foot-high spiral staircase that makes two complete 360-degree turns with no visible means of support. He came on a donkey and with a very few tools. This mysterious carpenter vanished without a trace and didn't take any payment, but his gravity-defying masterpiece still stands.
Me and my kids posing in front of the Loretto Chapel while my dear senor is behind the camera.
A close-up of us!
That's the mysterious carpenter!
The miraculous spiral staircase! They said the railing was added years later. There were pictures of young ladies in choir uniforms sitting all up on the stairs with no rails. Those were awesome pictures. I personally think they should have left off the railing but of course with safety in mind and building codes...... blah blah blah. Kind of ruin the beauty of those spiral staircase.
That's in the back and now I'm turning around to the front.
The front of the church. It was pretty fancy and in Gothic theme. Made me feel I was in France.
I backed up a bit and turned my camera to the right to catch Jesus holding a child statue.
We had repeatedly told our kids to be quiet! Be Quiet!
Jonah got the message! Shhhhh!
A close up of the railing. No nails at all. This staircase is one of the few man-made wonders in the world!
Remember this penny souvenir machine? I hadn't seen one in a long while and I had to let them had their fun. They have been so patience inside the chapel while we take in the scene and wondered how and how come... etc.. We had questions and of course, we're left to continue to wonder. The frustrations of being Deaf and the frustration that we're too tired to ask the guide questions and knowing we'd ended up being more frustrated so it's easier to just go. And beside our kids were even more frustrated. LOL!
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