MESA PRIETA PETROGLYPHS, LOS LUCEROS, OHKAY OWINGEH, CHAMITA

At 10:00 we visit the extraordinary petroglyphs at Mesa Prieta, the great majority of which were created by ancestral Puebloans between about 1300 and 1600. Thereafter we drive in caravan to the Los Luceros Historic Site, where we have lunch (please bring your own meal) in a spectacular setting beside the Rio Grande and then visit two of the principal historic buildings, the hacienda and the capilla.

Following Los Luceros we drive a short distance to Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, where we visit two gothic churches: the stone Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, with artistically painted walls and a grotto chancel; and the brick San Juan Bautista, whose features include exceptional stained glass, an altar screen depicting the life of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, and a colcha tapestry of the Virgin of Guadalupe by Regina Cata. We then take a short walk to visit the pueblo’s plazas.

Our trip concludes at the nearby San Pedro Chapel in Chamita, where master santeros Victor Goler and Felix Lopez explain their conservation-in-progress of a Pedro Antonio Fresquís altar screen created in the early nineteenth century. The conservation has been approved by the Archbishop’s Commission for the Preservation of Historic New Mexico Churches. Proceeds from ticket revenue benefit this conservation.

The visits to the petroglyphs and the pueblo are guided by Matthew Martinez, Executive Director of the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project and an Ohkay Owingeh tribal member. At San Pedro we are hosted by mayordoma Phyllis Sanchez Trujillo.

Admission fees at Mesa Prieta and Los Luceros are included in the ticket price.

At Mesa Prieta we walk on an uphill trail but the climb is not strenuous because we stop frequently to see petroglyphs. At Los Luceros we walk on flat ground about ten minutes to a riverside picnic site. We can request a car pass for anyone preferring not to walk. 

Photo by William Frej.