Sights in Taos
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
Taos Pueblo
One of the most photographed destinations in New Mexico and continuously inhabited for more than a thousand years, this quintessential example of Pueblo Revival architecture is a must-see for anyone interested in Native American life, history and culture.
Built entirely out of adobe and set against the stunning backdrop of the Sangre de Cristos, Taos Pueblo is the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark. The two five-story complexes, built between 1000 and 1450 AD, are one of the best examples of pueblo-revival architecture in the country, and have been continuously inhabited for 1000 years.…
reviewed
-
San Francisco de Asís Church
Four miles south of Taos in Ranchos de Taos, this iconic church was built in the mid-18th century and opened in 1815. Famed for the curves and angles of its adobe walls, it's been memorialized in Georgia O'Keeffe paintings and Ansel Adams photographs. Mass is held at 6pm the first Saturday of the month, and usually at 7am, 9am and 11:30am every Sunday.
reviewed
-
A
Millicent Rogers Museum
This museum, about 4 miles from the plaza, is filled with pottery, jewelry, baskets and textiles from the private collection of Millicent Rogers, a model and oil heiress who moved to Taos in 1947 and acquired one of the best collections of Indian and Spanish colonial art in the USA. You want to know what a top-quality squash blossom necklace is supposed to look like? Look no further. Also displayed are contemporary Native American and Hispanic artworks.
reviewed
-
Taos Art Museum & Fechin Institute
This museum was home to Russian artist Nicolai Fechin, who emigrated to New York City in 1922 at age 42 and moved to Taos in 1926. Today his paintings, drawings and sculptures are in museums and collections worldwide. Between 1927 and 1933, Fechin completely reconstructed the interior of his adobe home, adding his own distinctly Russian woodcarvings. The Fechin house exhibits the artist's private collection, including much Asian art, and hosts occasional chamber music events. Five-day watercolor, sculpture and other arts workshops are offered from May to October at the nearby ranch.
reviewed
-
B
Kit Carson Home & Museum
Kit Carson (1809–68) was the Southwest's most famous mountain man, guide, trapper, soldier and scout. His home serves as an excellent introduction to Taos in the mid-19th century, housing such artifacts as Carson's rifles, telescope and walking cane. Built in 1825 with 30in adobe walls and traditional Territorial architecture, the home's 12 rooms are today furnished as they may have been during Carson's day, with exhibits on all periods of Taos history and mountain-man lore.
reviewed
-
DH Lawrence Ranch & Memorial
In 1924, Mabel Dodge Luhan gave DH Lawrence’s wife Frieda this 160-acre ranch, now administered by the University of New Mexico, where the Lawrence-obsessed can pay their respects to the famed author of such classics as Lady Chatterley’s Lover. While you are free to wander the grounds, you can’t go into the cabins.
reviewed
-
C
Taos Historic Museums
The 1797 Blumenschein Home & Museum was the home of artist Ernest Blumenschein (one of the founding members of the Taos Society of Artists) in the 1920s. Today it's maintained much as it would have been when the Blumenscheins lived here. The period furniture is interesting, and the art is spectacular. Down the road a bit (you'll want to drive), the Martínez Hacienda, built in 1804, became the end of the line on the northern spur of the Camino Real. With 21 rooms, it's one of the best preserved New Mexican 'Great Houses' from that era. Cultural events are held here regularly.
reviewed
-
D
Harwood Museum of Art
Housed in a historic mid-19th-century adobe compound, the Harwood Museum of Art features paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture and photography by northern New Mexico artists, both historical and contemporary.
reviewed
-
Rio Grande Gorge Bridge
On US Hwy 64 about 12 miles northwest of Taos, the gorge bridge is the second-highest suspension bridge in the USA. Constructed in 1965, the vertigo-inducing steel bridge spans 500ft across the gorge and 650ft above the river below, and there's a walkway across it all. The views west over the emptiness of the Taos Plateau and down into the jagged walls of the Rio Grande will surely make you gulp as you gape. On the eastern side of the bridge you'll usually find a motley array of vendors selling jewelry, sage sticks and other souvenirs for good prices.
reviewed
-
E
Harwood Foundation Museum
Housed in a historic mid-19th-century adobe compound, the Harwood Foundation Museum features paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture and photography by northern New Mexican artists, both historical and contemporary. Founded in 1923, the Harwood has been run by the University of New Mexico since 1936 and underwent a major renovation in 1997. It is the second-oldest museum in New Mexico, and one of its most important when it comes to art collections.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Martínez Hacienda
reviewed
-
Earthships
Innovative and off-the-grid, Earthships are self-sustaining, environmentally savvy houses built with recycled materials like used automobile tires and cans. The community is the brainchild of architect Michael Reynolds, whose idea was to develop a building method that 'eliminates stress from both the planet and its inhabitants.' Buried on three sides by earth, the Earthships are designed to heat and cool themselves, make their own electricity and catch their own water. Sewage is decomposed naturally, and dwellers grow their own food. The Earthship 'tour' is a little disappointing – you pay five bucks basically to watch a short dvd and check out the visitor center. It's…
reviewed
-
F
Blumenschein Home & Museum
reviewed