Church of San José de Gracia


Begun in 1760 and constantly defended against Apache raids, the Church of San José de Gracia in tiny Las Trampas is considered one of the finest surviving 18th-century churches in the USA. Original paintings and carvings remain in excellent condition, and self-­flagellation bloodstains from the Los Hermanos Penitentes (a 19th-century secretive religious order with a strong following in the northern mountains of New Mexico) are still visible.


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