Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis, Santa Fe

DSC07560, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

We really enjoyed the beauty of New Mexico on the whole and Santa Fe in particular and the cathedral in Santa Fe was definitely a favorite spot. The place is lovely in itself and steeped in history: Archbishop Lamy, the inspiration for Death Comes for the Archbishop is buried there and a side chapel contains a 400 year old statue of Our Lady - entitled Our Lady of Conquistadora (oddly translated as "Our Lady of Peace").



I think also, after the spiritual emptiness of the Loreto Chapel (which is no longer a consecrated Catholic Church, even though it *looks* the part), the cathedral seemed especially alive and complete.



It was neat, after a parish and school field trip to the Basilica of St. Josaphat in Milwaukee earlier this year, to be able to identify the symbols of a basilica that were present in the church. In this picture you can see one of them - the ombrellino - rather well (and can read more about the symbols here).

Click here to see the rest of our pictures from the Cathedral Basilica on Flickr.