Taos Pueblo is the northernmost pueblo in New Mexico. People have resided in Taos Pueblo for over 1,000 years. Today, four to six families live regularly in the pueblo, which has no running water or electricity. Other families return to live in the pueblo during special occasions. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
A tour of the pueblo begins at San Geronimo (St. Jerome) Chapel, which was completed in 1850. Spanish missionaries brought Catholicism to the Taos Pueblo in 1540, forcing them to give up their ancestral religion. Today, the people of Taos Pueblo are predominantly Catholic, but also continue to practice their ancestral religious rites.
A Catholic church was first erected at the Pueblo in 1619. It was destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt agains the Spanish in 1680. A new church was erected after the return of the Spanish. That church was bombed by U.S. troops in 1847 during the Taos Revolt, an uprising against occupation by the United States. Over 100 people, including women and children, who had taken sanctuary in the church were killed. The remains of the original church are in the cemetery at the Pueblo.
There are two main structures, Hlauuma (north house) and Hlaukwima (south house). It is estimated that portions of these structures were first built between 1000 AD and 1450 AD, making them the oldest continuously occupied dwellings in the country.
Hlaukwima (south house)
Hlauuma (north house)
