Santa Fe Plaza

The NPS says the Spanish founded the plaza in 1609 as a defensive site, while other accounts give 1610 for the city's founding under Governor Pedro de Peralta, so the exact year depends on the source. Under Spanish law a town needed a central plaza, and Santa Fe's was originally part of a presidio surrounded by a defensive wall. The Palace of the Governors, begun in 1610 by tradition, may date to about 1618 according to more recent research. NPS describes it as the terminus of El Camino Real in New Mexico for nearly 300 years and notes that it has served as the Spanish, Mexican, and American capitol.

After Mexican independence in 1821 the Santa Fe Trail opened, and its western end was the plaza, where wagon caravans camped and unloaded goods. When Anglo-Americans arrived around 1850, the plaza was fenced, planted, and reduced to roughly its present size of about one city block, enclosed by buildings facing the Palace. It is about half its original size today, landscaped with flagstone walks, benches, and trees.

The plaza was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. The Palace of the Governors was itself designated a landmark in 1960. From 1909 to 2009 the Palace housed the state history museum before the New Mexico History Museum opened next door. It is often called the oldest public building in the United States, though the claim that it is the oldest continuously occupied one rests on a disputed construction date.

The plaza has a bandstand, a fountain, and a time capsule. Native American artisans have long sold jewelry and pottery from the portal of the Palace of the Governors. The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi stands near the plaza and is part of the historic core. The plaza is the setting for the annual Fiestas de Santa Fe, the Spanish Market, the Santa Fe Indian Market, and the Santa Fe Bandstand summer concerts, and it is lit with farolitos and luminarias at Christmas.

Event dates, vendor arrangements, and street closures around the plaza change, so check the City of Santa Fe and the New Mexico History Museum for current information. The plaza is the natural starting point for a private tour of the city: your group travels with a private vehicle and driver and door-to-door pickup, so you can begin on foot at the historic center and then continue wherever the day leads.