This Plaza marked both the end of the Camino Reale up from Mexico and the Santa Fe Trail from Independence, Missouri and the East. Later Route 66 passed through until 1937. It is surrounded by adobe buildings and is very attractive. These days they no longer render their adobe buildings with a mud based plaster as in the Moroccan pise equivalents but use a ready mix render more like cement which only needs to be renewed every 10 years and not annually. In fact many places build a narrow timber frame over the sun-baked brick wall and stretch chicken wire between and then render that.
It is fronted on one side by the Palace of Governors, originally built in 1610 but then rebuilt after the Pueblo revolt of 1680 and is the country's oldest public building.
It is now a museum with an extension to the rear
with an excellent history museum where we received an excellent free tour from Mr McClennan a local archaeologist and voluntary guide.
The old palace part has the remains of a pre-1610 pueblo below the floor
and a wing dedicated to printing presses.
Nearby is the St Francis Cathedral built in 1869.
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