San Miguel Chapel
Oldest church structure in the USA
Santa Fe, NM
Click here to view evidence!
History
The original walls and altar of the San Miguel Chapel were built in 1610 by a group of Tlaxcata Indians from Mexico under the direction of Franciscan Padres, who accompanied the early Spanish settlers to New Mexico. The site of the chapel shows evidence shows of pervious human occupation from about 1300 AD.
The chapel roof was burned during the Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680. After Don Deigo De Vargas reclaimed Sante Fe for Spain in 1692, he ordered the restoration of the roof. Evidence of the fire that destroyed the roof can be seen in the adobe bricks of the chapel today, since new adobes for the reconstruction were mixed on the site and bits of charcoal were inevitably mixed in with it. The building was restored by 1710.
Not much is known of the church for the next hundred years as Santa Fe settled into a peaceful, colonial life-style. Around 1830 a new three-tiered tower and roof were added. The top two tiers of this tower were blown to the ground in a particularly violent wind storm in 1872.
By the second half of the 19th century the Christian Brothers, who had been brought to Santa Fe by Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy to open a boys school in 1859, were using the San Miguel for a school chapel. The school buildings constructed around this time remain to the south and east of the chapel.
A board floor was put down during the Civil War, and a new single façade tower was added in 1887 to give the exterior its present general appearance. The oak floor was added on top fo the board in 1927. A major interior restoration was carried out in 1955 in order to recapture the Spanish Colonial appearance of the chapel.
Paranormal Activity
Paranormal
activity reported within the structure include children running through the center aisle, a group of Native American/Mexican Nationals dressed in 1600 clothing walking across the front of the altar have been seen by hundreds of visitors, voices when only one person was inside the facility and footsteps across the floor and going up a staircase to the loft. The stairs are no longer in existence.
Personal Account
Two Team members and another couple with whome they were traveling entered the chapel early on June 3, 2007. The chapel has an unmistakeable air of spirituality and Godliness within the high-beamed abode walls. We looked around the structure for a while then took time to just sit in the old pews and meditate. Pictures taken as we entered did not show anything unusual, however, after our individual prayers, they came alive with orbs and lights from all corners. Some of them have been posted here. EVP was inconclusive due to the high traffic volume of visitors.
