National and State Register

Capilla de San Juan Bautista

Saguache County

The adobe church with its steeply pitched roof, lancet windows, and prominent bell tower is an example of Territorial Adobe style architecture with Gothic Revival influences.  Replacing an earlier church that burned, construction began in 1912 and was not completed until 1923. 

A view of the white church from the side with red pitched roof and cross gabled section on the left and tower with cross on top on the right.

Capilla de San Juan Bautista (1996 photograph.)

Replacing an earlier church that burned, construction began in 1912 and was not completed until 1923.  As in most Hispanic communities, the church became the center of both social and religious activities.  The grounds include the ruins of an adobe nunnery and a cemetery with hand-carved grave markers.  Abandoned in 1957 and fallen into disrepair, the building was restored and converted into a folk art center.