# @lahistorygirl on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DPAX8AED6t_
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/63386991-lahistorygirl-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/85ed9c361c.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-09-25T00:55:11.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Malia Miglino │History & Travel │L.A. (@lahistorygirl) — https://gondola.cc/lahistorygirl

## Caption

Comment STAIRCASE to get my full Santa Fe trip guide 👇

#AD Imagine building a Gothic Revival chapel in 1878, hauling stained glass all the way from France… and then realizing you forgot to add a staircase to the choir loft. That was the dilemma facing the Sisters of Loretto in Santa Fe.

According to legend, after a nine-day novena to St. Joseph, a mysterious carpenter appeared. Working in secret, he built a spiral staircase that seems to defy logic: 33 steps, two perfect turns, no central support beam, pegged together without nails, and made of a wood not native to New Mexico. When the job was done, he vanished without pay or trace.

Historians have floated theories, but the truth is no one can say for certain who built it. What’s undeniable is that the staircase is both a miracle of engineering and one of Santa Fe’s most enduring stories.

And that’s the beauty of The City Different: every visit reveals another layer of history, another reason to return. This isn’t just a place to see once, it’s a place to keep uncovering, time and again. #UncoverYourDifferent

📍 Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe, New Mexico
 ✨ A marvel of wood, faith, and legend
#UncoverYourDifferent #TheCityDifferent #StellerStories
 @CityofSantaFe @StellerStories
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#lahistorygirl #lorettochapel #santafe #santafenm #newmexico #historiclocation #travel #travelgram #alternativetravel #historiesmysteries #architecture #architecturelover #californiablogger

## Stats

- **Views:** 2,732
- **Likes:** 0
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- **Comments:** 29

## Tags

lorettochapel, architecturelover, travelgram, santafe, lahistorygirl, thecitydifferent, alternativetravel, stellerstories, travel, californiablogger, historiesmysteries, architecture, santafenm, ad, historiclocation, newmexico, uncoveryourdifferent

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