Open the Blue Door to Santa Fe’s Palace of the Governors
September 8, 2007 by Mary Jo Manzanares
Filed under Museums, Things to See & Do
Santa Fe’s Palace of the Governors was built in the early 1600’s as Spain’s seat of government. That didn’t work out so well.
Today, the Palace of the Governors is a Registered National Historic Landmark, and serves as New Mexico’s state history museum. At this oldest public building in the United States, you can follow the history of the southwest through Spanish colonial times, Mexican occupation, right up through US Territorial and later statehood. The adobe building is simple and unpretentious, and I love its blue door!
One of my favorite artifacts is the Pancho Villa Clock. The clock hung in the railway station, and was shot during the raid of Pancho Villa and his men. The bullet cut the through the pendulum of the clocking, stopping it at 4:11 am. Now that’s the kind of history that we didn’t study in school!
The Palace of the Governors is located in the downtown plaza, and is open Tuesday - Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm, and Friday evenings 5-8 pm.
Admission is $6 for New Mexico residents, $8 for non-residents. There are a variety of options for FREE admission, and museum passes good for multiple museums on the museum website.
Photo credit: flickr
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