Chimayo, New Mexico

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Chimayó is a census-designated place (CDP) located in northern New Mexico, United States. Its complete name is el Potrero de Chimayó. It is a settlement near Santa Cruz, New Mexico about 25 miles north and west of Santa Fe. It had a population of 2,924 as of 2000. It is known throughout the region and internationally for its privately-built chapel, the Santuario de Nuestro Señor de Esquípulas, commonly known as El Santuario de Chimayo, which was bought by local preservationists in the 1920s and handed over to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1929. It is now managed by the Archdiocese as a Catholic church.

1 El Santuario de Nuestro Señor de Esquípulas
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] El Santuario de Nuestro Señor de Esquípulas

El Santuario was originally a private chapel built by Don Bernardo Abeyta in 1816 on land originally held sacred by Native American residents of the region. It is dedicated to Our Lord of Esquipulas, and constructed from adobe, with twin bell towers. Soil from a hole in the sanctuary's dirt floor is considered holy by some, capable of bringing about miraculous cures of ill health through the practice of geophagy(Spanish: tierra bendita).

Don Abeyta was a member in good standing of La Cofradía de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno. According to the folk history of Chimayó, while performing the customary Holy Week penance of the cofradía around El Potrero, he saw a light springing from one of the slopes of the hills near the Santa Cruz River. He went to the spot and noticed that the shining light was coming from the ground. He started to dig with his bare hands, and there he found a Crucifix of Nuestro Señor de Esquípulas, a religious icon associated with indigenous people in Guatemala. He left it there and called his neighbors to come and venerate the santo. A group of men was sent to notify the local priest, Fr. Sebastian Alvarez at Santa Cruz.

Upon hearing the extraordinary news, the priest and people set out for Chimayó. When they arrived at the place where the Crucifix was, Fr. Sebastian picked it up and carried it back to the Santa Cruz church. Once in the church, the Crucifix was placed in the niche of the main altar. The next morning, it was discovered that the Crucifix was gone, only to be found back in its original location. A second procession was organized and the Crucifix was returned to Santa Cruz, but once again it disappeared. The same thing happened a third time. By then, everyone understood that El Señor de Esquípulas wanted to remain in Chimayó, and so Don Abeyta built the small chapel of El Santuario. Construction was completed between 1814 and 1816.

The Abeyta Family continued to maintain el Santuario until the early 1920s, when it began to fall into disrepair and they could no longer afford the upkeep. In 1929, a group of people from Santa Fe who were part of the Spanish Colonial Arts Society bought it and turned it over to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

El Santuario was built over the site where the santo was originally found, which was also a site of holy earth "tierra bendita." Close to the Santuario is la Capilla de Santo Niño de Atocha, built in the 1850s. Other private chapels in northern New Mexico are also built on sites associated with healing earth, such as la Capilla de Talpa. Interestingly, most of these chapels overlay santos revered by indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America onto healing sites sacred to indigenous communities of northern New Mexico.

The last hanging of a supposed "witch" in the United States, happened here in September 1884. The hapless woman's name is not recorded.

For its reputation as a healing site, it has become known as the "Lourdes of America," and attracts close to 300,000 visitors a year, including up to 30,000 during Holy Week (the week prior to Easter, celebrated in Christian tradition). The sanctuary was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

[edit] Geography

Chimayo is located at 36°0′12″N, 105°56′25″W (36.003247, -105.940244)^GR1. It is sited in a valley within the Sangre de Cristo Mountains 24 miles (38.4 km) northeast of Santa Fe. Chimayo is approximately 6075 ft above sea level.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 14.1 km² (5.5 mi²). None of the area is covered with water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,924 people, 1,150 households, and 808 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 206.8/km² (535.9/mi²). There were 1,323 housing units at an average density of 93.6/km² (242.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 48.60% White, 0.14% African American, 0.68% Native American, 0.07% Asian, 44.84% from other races, and 5.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 90.83% of the population.

There were 1,150 households out of which 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $31,474, and the median income for a family was $35,938. Males had a median income of $28,009 versus $24,357 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $17,023. About 14.1% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.4% of those under age 18 and 28.6% of those age 65 or over.