Pueblo Acoma

previous   top   next

About fifty miles west of Albuquerque, and off the road a ways, is Pueblo Acoma, aka "Sky City". It is a functioning village of Acoma Pueblo Indians on top of a mesa hundreds of feet above the desert floor. Some Acomas live there year round (it has been inhabited since the 12th century), and you can tour it only with an Acoma guide (A bus takes visitors up the mesa). You can't take pictures without a permit like the one below attached to your camera.

In this photo there is a wood-fired brick oven on the left, and you can sort of see the brand new, beautifully designed visitors' center down on the valley floor.



The village itself is a mix of traditional materials and methods, with some new things mixed in. The architectural style is consistent throughout, including the protruding roof beams you see here.



Eero liked the alleyways between buildings.



There is fine decorative work to be seen all over.



The church at Pueblo Acoma is San Esteban del Rey, built in the early 17th century. It was one of the few mission buildings to survive the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. It is a very impressive building, and worth a stop on your next visit to New Mexico. And while photos are allowed in most of Acoma, they are not allowed inside the church or cemetary.



Eero and Cielo each had a certain amount of souvenir money to spend, and by the time we got to Acoma, Eero had pretty much spent all of his. Cielo still had a little left and used it to buy a small pottery cat sculpture, and it was soon revealed that Eero really didn't understand budgets, as he had a fit about not being able to buy something else himself. After he calmed down (helped by a delicious tamale Alison bought from one of the vendors), he was pretty much worn out. Here he is sitting on the steps outside part of the church.



After the tour, Vernon and Eero took the bus back down, but Alison and Cielo decided to walk down the stairway that the Acomans used to use to get supplies up from the desert floor. Here's Cielo heading down.



previous   top   next