Ancestral Sites Tour - The Porter's Lodge

This was the portería (porters lodge), the mission’s business office and reception area. The convento housed the priests and mission activities. If you entered a convento room in the 1700s, the portero (porter) greeted you. The portero, usually a Pecos neophyte, or new convert, slept here to guard the convento at night. Special statuses like portero were awarded as a way of integrating Pueblo people into Christian society. Neophytes also served in the convento as interpreters, cooks, bell-ringers, and servants.