LAURIE BETH ZUCKERMAN: PHOTOGRAPHS OF MISSION SAN AGUSTIN DE ISLETA PUEBLO, NEW MEXICO

Laurie Beth Zuckerman visited the Mission San Agustin de Isleta on the Isleta Pueblo, south of Albuquerque for the first time this past Christmastime. This was one of the last mission churches 
I had left to visit in New Mexico. The old adobe church is a lovely structure, and looked festive for the holiday. It is one of the two oldest surviving mission churches in New Mexico. Isleta Pueblo was established prior to the 1598 Spanish occupation of New Mexico, and has a long and complex history that you can read about on the National Park Service website I have listed at the end of this post.

What fascinated me were the two Virgin Mary statues that were cloaked in miniature cloth shawls. I had never seen this done before, and it lent a uniquely Native American quality to these lovely old Catholic statues. The church also displays several other plaster saints, a creche, and and tasteful Christmas decorations.

You will want to put this historic mission church on your own wishlist of Southwest architectural gems.

 

 

 

 

San Agustin Mission Church at the Isleta Pueblo is listed in the National Register of Historical Places. Read more about this wonderful church at the following National Park Service website link.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/travelspanishmissions/mission-san-agustin-de-isleta.htm