The Loretto chapel, now privately owned was a story completely unknown to before I arrived. Dutifully, looking for a guide book as I paid to get in, my immediate feeling was: now this is a small Gothic church. Diminutive would be a good word. In fact, by odd comparison, the church we visited in the 1,000 year-old Taos Pueblo was 2/3 the chapel size but felt cramped and poor.
The Gothic design is a bit over powering because it is so…doll’s house. Outsized. The beams and apex of the altar is as beautiful as anything I have seen in Europe 10 times it’s size. But turn towards where the choir would be, and you see a low-ceiling 2nd story, available to the ground through a odd winding, French-style, staircase.
From 1867. The miracle staircase.
Built by a shabby-looking man, over a three-month period, no nails and only crude tools. No nails. They say his name was Joseph.
The nuns say that once he was done he disappeared, thus the attribution to St Joseph. It is a stunning work of craft, of art, like a wooden stairs version of the David. It was that good.
Nice to say, even though small, people were hushed and respectful of each others space as we all stare agape at the staircase.
Outspoken Traveler 