Plazas are important. Striving to be the cultural center, but often being the community living room, plazas are like the origin (0,0) of a coordinate grid, giving a sense of direction to the shops and services that surround it, the cultural cream filling to a commercial cupcake.
For this reason, shops, restaurants, bars, and especially hotels will pride themselves in distance to Santa Fe Plaza, recognizing it as the hub of the capitol.
In this case, the Plaza has historic significance, being a National Historic Landmark. Established in1610, as the Spanish colonized Mexico (NEW Mexico- get it?), Governor Peralta founded "La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis- the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi," but since that didn't fit on a shot glass, they settled on Santa Fe.
They built a walled fort to protect the village and its central plaza from the Pueblo Indians, who instead met at the plaza for trade.
The Pueblo would eventually revolt in1680 (known as the Pueblo Revolt of 1680), pushing the 2500 colonists out of New Mexico. Historians say it was from their culture and religion being repressed, though I think it was the prices. "This shirt costs 700 Scalps?!".
The Spanish re-conquered the area twelve years later, which was perfectly timed since the wait time for a table at The Shed was eleven years, eleven months. Because the Pueblo eventually surrendered peacefully at the Plaza, the park celebrates it by hosting La Fiesta de Santa Fe since 1712.
In 1821, Mexico renamed it La Plaza de la Consitucion once they won independence from Spain after 11 years of revolution. They raised the Mexican flag above the Palace of the Governors (the oldest continuously publicly occupied building in the country) and then took a nap.
A year later, the Santa Fe Trail was established as an international trade route that took a wagon 10 weeks to get from the plaza to Missouri, full of boarding houses and gambling halls. Nowadays the only gambling is buying an authentic Pueblo basket that may have been made in India.
The U.S. invaded the area in 1846, with American General Kearney proclaiming New Mexico as a U.S. territory in the Plaza. Two years of fighting settled it. If you aren't sure who won, the Haagan Dazs selling $9 scoops of ice cream is your hint.
We also got California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially established our country's borders, at which time the railroads made the Santa Fe trail less relevant and the plaza became a fenced-in area to grow alfalfa. To commemorate this placid time in which the plaza was under used to grow alfalfa, the park is frequented by a homeless person whose hair stands straight up.
In 1912, New Mexico became a state, and now the park is a grassy public square with cottonwood trees, flagstone walkways, and historical stone markers for the start of the Santa Fe Trail, the Pueblo Revolt, Kearny's announcements of annexation and the end of the royal road of the interior
(El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro) that leads to Mexico City.
Santa Fe Plaza today is now a pleasant, grassy public square, lined with cottonwood trees and flagstone walkways with historical stone markers in the plaza include memorials that mark the start of the Santa Fe Trail and Kearny's announcement of annexation.
Stroll by, through, around--- basically, any preposition will do. You may find authentic Pueblo telling their story through song and dance or you may find the Harley riders congregating. Whether you want a special event, some cultural street performances, or just a place to drink your $6 bottle of water, the Plaza is the spot for you. read more