Figure 2. The Abiquiu area, showing the Chama River, U.S. 

 Highway 84, and sighting of buildings (the mission of Santo 

 Tomas and the two moradas are circled ) . 



Penitente moradas share a common system of adobe 

 construction with the religious and domestic structures 

 of New Mexico. While the Indians set walls of puddled 

 earth directly on the ground, the Spaniards, following 

 Moorish precedent, laid abobe bricks on stone founda- 

 tions. Standard house-size adobes average 15 by 30 by 

 50 centimeters. Adobe bricks are made by packing a 

 mixture of mud, sand, and straw into a wood frame 

 from which the block then is knocked out onto the 

 ground to dry in the sun. Stones set in adobe mortar 

 provide a foundation. The sun-dried bricks, which are 

 also laid in adobe mortar, form exterior, load-bearing 

 walls and interior partitions. 



Spanish adobe construction also employs wood. 

 Openings are framed and closed with a lintel that 



projects well into the wall. These recessed lintel faces 

 often are left exposed after the plastering of adjoining 

 surfaces. Roofs are transverse beams [vigas) , which 

 in turn hold small cross branches {savinos) or planks 

 [tablas) . A final layer of brush and adobe plaster closes 

 the surface cracks. Plank drains {canales) , rectangu- 

 lar in section, lead water from this soft roof surface 

 (Figiu-e 3). 



Domestic adobe structures differ from ecclesiastic 

 buildings in scale and in spatial arrangement. Colonial 

 New Mexican churches are relatively large, unicellular 

 spaces. Their simple nave volume often is made cruci- 

 form by a transept whose higher roof allows for a 

 clearstory. A choir loft over the entry and a narrowed, 

 elevated sanctuary further articulate the space at each 

 end of the nave. In contrast, Hispano houses consist 

 of several low rooms set in a line or grouped around 

 a court [placita) in which a gate and porch [portal] 

 are placed. Rooms vary in width according to the 

 length of the transverse beams, which usually are 

 from four to six meters long.^^ 



The everyday living spaces inside Spanish-New Mex- 

 ican houses tend to combine domestic activities and 

 to appear similar in space and decor. Inside a Hispano 

 church, however, areas of special useage are marked 

 off clearly within the volume. Celebration of the mass 

 requires a special spatial treatment to indicate the sanc- 

 tuary. This area is emphasized by an arched entry, 

 lateral pilasters, raised floor, and characteristically 

 convergent side walls. These slanting walls provide 

 better vision for the congregation and easier movement 

 for the celebrants. The convergent wall of sanctuaries 

 is often visible from the exterior. It is noteworthy that 

 both the contracted sanctuary of local churches and 

 the linear arrangement of domestic interiors appear in 

 the penitente moradas of Abiquiti. 



In the plans of the Abiquiii moradas (Figure 4) , the 

 identical arrangement of the three rooms reveals an 

 origin in the typical Hispano house form. George 

 Kubler has observed that the design of moradas "is 

 closer to the domestic architecture of New Mexico than 

 to the churches." ^^ Bainbridge Bunting confinns the 

 houselike form of moradas but notes their lack of uni- 



44. The "Hall of Everyday Life in the American Past" 

 in the Museum of History and Technology (Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, Washington, D.C.) displays an interior typical of a 

 Spanish-New Mexican adobe house of about 1800. 



45. George Kubler, The Religious Architecture of New 

 Mexico (Colorado Springs, 1940), p. viii. 



130 



BULLETIN 250: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



