SALINAS "In the Midst of a Loneliness": The Architectural History of the Salinas Missions

THE SECOND CHURCH AND CONVENTO

In 1629 Fray Francisco Acevedo arrived with the wagon train from Mexico in company with Fray Estévan de Perea, the new custodian, and Fray Francisco Letrado, soon to be assigned to begin the conversion of Las Humanas. In the chapter meeting held after the arrival of the train, Fray Perea assigned Fray Acevedo as the second missionary at Abó, joining Fonte. [14] He may have been assigned to manage the visita at LA 200 (probably the village called Ténabo), four miles to the west.

After Letrado's beginning at Las Humanas and departure for Hawikuh in 1631, Acevedo acquired Las Humanas and Tabirá as visitas. Acevedo embarked on a major building program, and over the next few years he completed the construction of the visita church of San Diego at Tabirá and built the visita church of San Buenaventura at Las Humanas. [15]

About 1640, Acevedo became guardian of Abó. [16] He soon began planning a renovation of the church and convento of San Gregorio. The reasons for the enlargement are unknown, but can be suggested. The church was almost 20 years old by 1640, and probably needed re-roofing. During the same period, Abó's place in the Franciscan effort in New Mexico had changed. Since 1634, Abó had administered of two visitas (or three if Ténabo was still a visita). [17] This made Abó the head of one of the largest chains of pueblos in New Mexico. Acevedo, with a decade of experience in construction in the Salinas basin, saw no reason to accept the small, simple church and convento of San Gregorio as the structure housing such a significant mission.

Acevedo carefully mapped the church and convento. He drew a scale plan of the buildings and a set of elevation drawings of the church. Using these, he began to work out the most economical reconstruction that would result in a fully-developed church and convento. He eventually arrived at a plan and elevation that would produce the desired results with the least amount of demolition and new construction. [18] By 1645 Acevedo had worked out the necessary changes and additions and the required steps for the renovation.

Acevedo decided that the large, impressive church he wanted could be achieved by a simple process of addition to the present church, minimizing the amount of additional stonework. He worked out a plan that added transept-like side chapels and a larger, more intricate and imposing group of altars to the old church. The old sacristy would be eradicated by the expansion, so a new, larger sacristy would have to be built. This meant that several changes had to be made in the rooms at the northwest corner of the convento in order to make space for the new sacristy. Further changes were necessary in the convento along the west side of the patio to add the sacristy storeroom and the new choir stairwell (see figure 4 for the plan of the second church and convento of Abó).

Figure 4. The plan of the mission of Abó after its first reconstruction. The church was almost doubled in size, and a new, larger sacristy added. The patio was changed to accomodate the new sacristy storeroom on the west. The kiva was probably filled to a depth of about 6 feet as part of this reconstruction. The portería and front platform are again conjectural, based on their appearance after several reconstructions. (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

Within the church, Acevedo wanted a higher, more imposing roof and more space and light in the nave. He decided to follow the new practice being used at the newer missions in New Mexico, and moved the baptismal font and the choir stairs to separate rooms outside the church. This would leave much more space under the choir loft. A new window would have to be cut through the east wall of the church and the original two windows filled. Space for the choir stairway had to be arranged in the convento and a second hole cut through the east wall of the church for an entrance to the choir loft. Acevedo wanted the baptismal area to be located outside the west wall of the nave, rather than outside the front of the church as at Quarai. This would require the addition of a doorway through the west wall under the choir loft. The old roof would have to be removed and replaced. All these changes would necessitate a considerable dismantling of the front end of the church.

Acevedo's plan for his new sanctuary and altars was innovative, incorporating several unique features. The addition of transepts and a larger altar area would not have been surprising in itself. Acevedo, however, did not do just this. Instead, he designed the "transepts" to contain two altars. They were not transepts, in other words, but side chapels, partially closed off from the nave by wooden screens. [19] This made a total of five altars at the head of the church. Above the side chapel altars, Acevedo built two balconies, or tribunas. In order to connect the balconies, while at the same time providing support for the main roof vigas across the north edge of the side chapels, he created a daring catwalk across the nave of the church at a height of twenty-two feet. In addition, the balconies and catwalk allowed access from the roof of the convento to the bell tower. [20]

Beyond the side chapels the nave would widen into true transepts, although very shallow ones. The additional width was sufficient to allow for three full-sized altars: two collaterals and an imposing high altar in the center. [21] The location of the main altar and the height of the walls of the church required the clerestory to be located well south of the altar in order for the sunlight to illuminate the area during the Christmas feast-days. Juggling sizes and heights, Acevedo worked out the proper size and placement of the clerestory at the south edge of the new side chapels. Still, in order for the proportions to work out correctly, he had to accept that maximum sunlight through the clerestory, during the Christmas season, illuminated the high altar stairway and the floor immediately in front of it, rather than of the altar itself. [22]