Loretto Chapel Staircase Wood
What makes this chapel different from all others is that the subject of the supposed miracle that took place in it is a staircase.
Loretto chapel staircase wood. Located in santa fe new mexico loretto chapel itself is an interesting story. The helix staircase of the loretto chapel and other miracles santa fe is the oldest capital city in new mexico us. Loretto chapel will make you believe in miracles or at least consider them.
The loretto chapel in santa fe new mexico is a former roman catholic church that is privately owned today and it is used as a wedding chapel and a museum. The speciman measured three quarters of an inch squarish by one eighth inch in thickness. Think how a piece of licorice candy is a twisted stick.
The following is an analytical description of the botanical properties of a small speciman of wood which was taken from the upper inner stringer of the loretto chapel staircase approximately where it joins the choir balcony front girder timber. The wood used in the construction of the loretto staircase has been a subject of contention for years now. You can do the same thing with a piece of wet wood.
Given the height of the loft and the small size of the chapel a staircase would have taken up too much floor space thereby reducing the seating capacity to an unacceptably small level. The only difference with the staircase at the loretto chapel is these beams or stringers have been twisted into a helix. Predominately spanish speaking due to both the conquistadors and recent.
In the center of the city stands an architectural landmark a former roman catholic church which is known as the loretto chapel. Joseph patron saint of carpenters. Back in 1850 long before the area would become a state in 1909 things were a bit let s say rough around the edges.
Loretto chapel is best known for its miraculous spiral staircase which rises 20 feet 6 1 m to the choir loft while making two full turns all without the support of a newel or central pole. When the loretto chapel was completed in 1878 there was no way to access the choir loft twenty two feet above. You can take a piece of flat wood get it wet and then twist it.
But it is not just the age of the city that makes it a popular destination. However the wood has now been identified as spruce but which of the ten spruce species in north america remains a mystery. This is because there has not been a large enough sample taken to determine the exact species.
Staircase three mysteries surround the spiral staircase in the loretto chapel. The construction of the chapel began in 1873. The identity of its builder the type of wood used and the physics of its construction.
