1630

In 1630 and 1635, Fray Alonso de Benavides wrote his Memorials to the King and the Pope about a beautiful fourteenth century statue of the Virgin that he had brought to Santa Fe from Mexico City in 1625. He called it an image in the round of the Assumption. The statue was enshrined in the parish church as Our Lady of the Rosary, but became more popularly known as La Conquistadora for her unification of New Mexicans in faith and love. She soon became the patroness of the Kingdom of New Mexico and the villa of Santa Fe. She survived the 1680 Pueblo Revolt through a daring rescue by her faithful sacristan Josefa López de Grijalba and returned to Santa Fe with don Diego de Vargas in 1693. Today she is enthroned in her chapel in the north transept of the Cathedral Church of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Santa Fe, New Mexico · United States