Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe

This beautiful chapel contains a “miraculous staircase”. Although I’ve been to Santa Fe several times, I’ve never been to visit. It’s a fascinating story accompanied by my not-so-great iPhone photos.

I took the narrative directly from their website:

https://www.lorettochapel.com/info/staircase

Three mysteries surround the spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel: the identity of its builder, the type of wood used, and the physics of its construction.

When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.

Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.

The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. It is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction.

The pictures don’t do this staircase much justice but you can see the choir loft above, along with beautiful stained glass in one of the extras. And the other extra is of the altar, on the other end of this lovely chapel.