on Dec 16th, 2008About Acoma
Acoma is an Indian Pueblo located on a reservation west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The most famous site in Acoma is “Sky City”, which is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States. Founded sometime in the 12th century the pueblo’s location has fascinated early explorers and Spanish Conquistadors. At 350ft the sandstone mesa made it a perfect natural defense against enemies. Today, community members can drive to the top of the mesa, but it was once only accessible by climbing a foot hole path carved into the rock.
Spanish settlers introduced the Catholic religion sometime in the 1500’s. The settlers also had the San Esteban del Rey Mission Church built a top the mesa around 1629. Modern day tourist from all over the world come to experience Sky City. The only way to visit the pueblo is by a tour given by Acoma guides from the Sky City Cultural Center.
The Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum is located at the base of the mesa. The $15 million cultural center allows visitors to learn more about the Acoma culture and even get a taste of traditional foods. There is also numerous crafts available for purchase.
