The Plaza

No trip to Santa Fe is complete without some time on the historic down town plaza. The Plaza was once, and arguably still is, the locus of northern New Mexico. Indians were attracted to the location because the Santa Fe River and built pueblos along the banks about 700 years ago. The Spanish arrived in the location in 1607, though the Indians had abandoned the area by then. The layers of Indian and Spanish culture, built up for hundreds of years, can be felt in almost ever corner of downtown. English was not spoken here until the early 1800s, when wagon trains following the Santa Fe Trail ran into town. Annual festivals, including Spanish Market and Indian Market in the summer, Fiesta in the fall and the Canyon Road walk on Christmas Eve fill down town with jubilant crowds.