Ancestral Sites Tour - The Last Church

Fray José de Arranegui completed the last Pecos church by 1717. This church was less ambitious in design than the one it replaced and served a smaller population. Wind, water, and vandalism have reduced it to a partial shell, though much of the original adobe remains. The timbers above the doorway are what is left of the beams supporting the roof. The friars taught the Pecos people woodworking, and they excelled at it. Soon the woodworkers’ talents were in demand throughout northern New Mexico. 

As you leave the church through the doorway on the right you will enter the convento. Back then, walking through the convento involved finding your way through dim passageways and small, sparsely furnished rooms.