I recently took a road trip to northern New Mexico and points in between. Certainly one of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Taos Pueblo near the city of Taos, New Mexico. I had visited this site some years ago, so I knew that is a “must see” place when I was in the area again. It is the ancestral home of the Taos Pueblo people and appears much the same as it did when the first Spanish explorers arrived in northern New Mexico in 1540 and believed that it was one of the fabled golden cities of Cibola. The main part of the present buildings were most likely constructed between 1000 and 1450 A.D.  Some of the structures are still inhabited by native residents making it the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States.

Another highlight is the beautiful San Geranimo, or St. Jerome chapel. The present church was built in 1850 to replace the original church which was destroyed in the War with Mexico by the U.S. Army in 1847. 

This is not only a fascinating visit for anyone interested in history and other cultures but it is also in a pictuesque setting, nestled amid the beauty of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. It is well worth a visit if your travels take you to this part of the country.