Ranchos de Taos
HeyTaos · Ranchos de Taos
Ranchos de Taos
Four miles south of Taos Plaza on NM-68. A historic Spanish Colonial farming village built around San Francisco de Asis Church, one of the most photographed buildings in New Mexico.
San Francisco de Asis Church
The mission church in Ranchos de Taos was completed in 1816 and remains an active Roman Catholic parish. It is the most photographed and painted building in New Mexico and one of the most recognizable adobe structures in the American Southwest. Georgia O'Keeffe painted it repeatedly starting in 1929. Ansel Adams and Paul Strand photographed it. The angle that made all of them famous is not the front entrance. It is the massive sculpted adobe buttresses around the back.
The church is built in the Spanish Colonial mission style with walls up to four feet thick. The rear facade, with its two rounded towers and the great curved buttresses, is an architectural form found almost nowhere else. It looks different from every angle and in every light. Sunset is the most popular time for photography.
Every year the parish re-muds the entire exterior by hand, the traditional enjarre process, using the same clay soil as the original builders. The structure you photograph is literally remade each year by the people who pray in it. That is not a tourist feature. It is how the building has survived.
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Address | Old Church Road at NM-68, Ranchos de Taos, NM 87557 |
| Phone | 575-758-2754 |
| Hours | Mon through Sat 9 AM to 4 PM. Closed Sunday (Mass). Hours vary by season. |
| Admission | $3 suggested donation |
| Mass schedule | Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Church closes to visitors during Mass. |
| Photography | Permitted outside. Interior photography restricted during services. |
Walk all the way around the building before you take any photos. The famous view is the back and south side, not the front entrance on NM-68. Most visitors who park on the highway and walk straight in miss the reason the building is famous.
The Village
Ranchos de Taos is a distinct community from Taos, with its own identity and history rooted in Spanish Colonial land grants. The village predates Taos as an American settlement and the church predates New Mexico statehood by nearly a hundred years. The community is still predominantly Hispanic and still organized around the parish and the agricultural traditions of the valley.
The village has a small commercial strip on NM-68 with a few restaurants, a gas station, and local services. There are no major chain stores. Chimayo Trading del Norte, just off NM-68, deals in Southwestern antiques, Native American textiles, and regional folk art and is worth a stop if you are buying seriously.
Where to Eat
Ranchos de Taos has a handful of local restaurants along NM-68. Trading Post Cafe, in the historic trading post building on NM-68, serves New Mexican and continental food in a room hung with art and has been a local constant for decades. Several other small diners and New Mexican spots operate along the main road.
Getting There
Ranchos de Taos is 4 miles south of Taos Plaza on NM-68, the main highway south toward Espanola and Santa Fe. Drive time from Taos Plaza is about 10 minutes. It is a natural stop on the way in or out of Taos from the south. Parking along Old Church Road and the church lot is free.
Sources: San Francisco de Asis Parish. Hours and admission subject to change.