3 Best Sights in Taos, New Mexico

The bustling center of downtown Taos, the Plaza is also filled with some of the town's most important history. The first European explorers of the Taos Valley came here with Captain Hernando de Alvarado, a member of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s expedition of 1540. Basque explorer Don Juan de Oñate later arrived in Taos in July 1598 and Spanish settlements began to be established in the 1600s. In 1796, the King of Spain gave the Don Fernando de Taos land grant to 63 Hispanic families—the most significant settlement in the area second only to Taos Pueblo. It was then developed into two plazas: one was a thriving business district for the early colony, while the second, a walled residential plaza, was constructed a few hundred yards behind it. The plaza was guarded by sentries and the only way in or out was through a large gate. At night, livestock were brought into the enclosed space for security. Some ditches from the original hand-dug acequia system that brought water from nearby rivers through town for agricultural irrigation can still be seen in the downtown area. A gruesome, but important, historic chapter took place at Taos Plaza in 1847, during the Mexican-American War. The Taos Rebellion, or Taos Revolt, was an effort by the Indo-Hispano and Taos Pueblo communities to resist the American invasion of Northern New Mexico. This resulted in the murder of newly-appointed Governor Charles Bent and other Americans and a massacre at Taos Pueblo by the U.S. Army who killed women and children as well as men. Following a jury trial at the Taos County Courthouse weighted to favor the American view, a number of local men were declared guilty and publicly executed by hanging on Taos Plaza. The scars of that event still mark the people who live here, many of them descendants of those killed. Be sure to visit the recently renovated historic old Taos County Courthouse on the north side of the Plaza, the site of these convictions. A series of dramatic murals depicting the use and misuse of the law were painted on its walls in the 1930s by Taos artists. The initiative, a project of the Works Progress Administration, was led by Emil Bisttram who studied fresco techniques under Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Luckily for modern-day visitors, today’s plaza is the home to summer fiestas, family-friendly concerts, and other community events, and houses gift shops, galleries, and restaurants.

This centrally located town park is a good place to rest or get active. Landscaped with mature trees and lilacs that bloom in the springtime, it has facilities for baseball, soccer, basketball, tennis, and a .75-mile track towards the east of the park as well as trails throughout for walking and jogging. The perfect site for summer concerts and outdoor family films and other events, the 19-acre park also holds the Kit Carson Cemetery, the final resting place for many famous (and infamous) Taos characters including Kit Carson, Padre Martinez, and Mabel Dodge Luhan.

On the south end of Taos, the Ranchos de Taos Plaza is the site of the oldest Spanish village in Taos Valley. Built as a fortified settlement for protection, it was finished in the late 1770s. The famous adobe San Francisco de Asis church sits in the center of the plaza, and around its perimeter are adobe buildings that once housed the earliest Spanish settlers of the area. Some of these historic residences have been converted into shops, galleries, and restaurants that can be visited by the public. Others are returning back to the earth from which they were formed. The Ranchos Plaza lies within a larger area that was designated as a Traditional Historic Community in 2022, under the official name "Las Comunidades del Valle de los Ranchos."

The area is made up of a 35-square-mile district encompassing the five historic agricultural communities of Ranchos de Taos, Talpa, La Cordillera, Los Cordovas, and Llano Quemado. This newly designated traditional historic community consists of parts of two Spanish land grants and several interconnected acequia systems. Acequia systems are made of hand-dug irrigation channels that route river water into agricultural fields, and they have been used in all five communities for centuries. However, acequia systems are not just physical irrigation ditches. They include important political and social components that dictate the intricate system of water-sharing that takes place among community members. Acequia systems are still in use today and are recognized in New Mexico law. This historic district has been utilized by many Native American communities, including Ute, Comanche, and Jicarilla Apache as well as nearby Taos and Picuris Pueblos. The Spanish who moved into the area mixed with these peoples, and their descendants are the Genízaro, the holders of unique traditions that are still alive and well in the Ranchos area today.