The San Francisco de Asis Church is located in the historic district of Rancho de Taos Plaza about four miles southwest of Taos New Mexico. Franciscan Fathers began construction on the adobe structure in 1712 and completed it in 1815. A traditional adobe structure of sand, clay and straw, the hand sculpted walls are ten feet thick. The church was made famous by the photographs of Ansel Adams, Paul Strand and the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe. O’Keeffe described the mission church as” one of the most beautiful buildings left in the United States by the early Spaniards.” The heart of the community, baptisms, marriages and funerals has been held in San Francisco de Asis Church for generations. Funeral services for actor Dennis Hopper, who once lived in the Rancho Village, were conducted here. San Francisco de Asis continues to stand due to the annual ritual that this close-knit community has kept alive for almost two hundred years. For two weeks every summer hundreds of parishioners volunteer to work together to re-plaster the adobe church. Rain and snow erode the outer surface and by applying a fresh coat of mud each year the integrity of the structure is maintained. San Francisco de Asis has been designated a National Historic Landmark as well as a World Heritage Site.
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