Santa Fe, New Mexico

From Wikinfo

Santa Fe (Spanish: santa?holy, fe?faith) is the capital of New Mexico, a state of the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 62,203. It is the county seat of Santa Fe County.

The elevation of Santa Fe is 1934.9m (6348 ft), as surveyed at the Santa Fe Municipal Airport. (Compared with 1655.4 m for Denver, Colorado)

The city has consciously attempted to preserve and display a regional architectural style. By a law passed in 1958, all new and rebuilt buildings must exhibit the Spanish-Pueblo style of architecture, based on the adobe (mud and straw) and wood construction of the past. Many Cape-Cod-style houses in the city have had tile roofs and mock adobe walls added.

In addition to being a state capital, the city saw an art and tourism boom in the 1970s, resulting in a population of income and educational level above the average of the U.S. southwest. Sophisticated restaurants, boutiques, and galleries line the streets of the city center and Canyon Road.

A lovely time to visit Santa Fe is around the second week of September when the aspens of the nearby Sangre de Cristo Range turn colors. This is also around the time of year when the locals burn "Zozobra" -- a fifty-foot man-puppet wearing a dress, supposedly an effigy of gloom.

See Also: Abipones

History

Santa Fe was founded in 1607, making it the second oldest city in North America, and became part of the United States of America in 1912.

The full name of Santa Fe is "La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis," or "The Royal City of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi."

Further Reading

• John Pen La Forge, Turn Left at the Sleeping Dog: Scripting the Santa Fe Legend 1920-1955, University of New Mexico Press, hardcover, 396 pages, 2001 ISBN 0-8263-2014-7

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Santa Fe, New Mexico" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Fe,_New_Mexico November 7, 2003