Talk:Loretto Chapel

"Miracle or not"?? Who wrote this?
Another link, which in turn has a broken link to an archived news paper article, is (search for "Loretto"). It aledges that the book "Loretto: The Sisters and Their Santa Fe Chapel" (ISBN 0890133980) explains much more of the true story, including that "The carpenter was Francois-Jean Rochas, a member of les compagnon, a French guild of celibate and secretive craftsmen. And he was far from saintly. Reclusive and irascible, he ended up dead in his Dog Canyon cabin, a victim of either suicide or assassination." &mdash;BenFrantzDale 22:41, August 29, 2005 (UTC)


 * Someone with access to that book or a similar source needs to rewrite this article with some hard information. Currently, it stands as an example of what happens when you have true believers and skeptics collaborating on the same article. I removed the "unexplained" from "unexplained mysteries," since, according to the Inquirer article, the mysteries HAVE been explained. Lcduke 00:46, 23 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Today's About.com Urban Legends newsletter dealt with this. The carpenter is generally believed to have been Rochas. At his death a newspaper article ID'ed him as the stairs' builder...not too mysterious. As for the structure, the inner stringer is a spiral so tight that it almost functions as a veritcal pillar. And it apparently goes unmentioned in most discussions that the stairs are anchored to a nearby column with a metal brace, and that their structural integrity is so unsure that they have been off limits since the 1970s. PurpleChez 14:06, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Unsure of the "structural integrity"? It's faith based ;). 219.95.62.101 14:43, 13 September 2007 (UTC)
 * The metal brace was added much later due to vibrations from passing vehicles. 174.240.176.104 (talk) 06:06, 11 April 2023 (UTC)

when you set out to debunk a myth with uncited assertions, well. . . let's just say I don't find it very satisfying.208.68.128.91 (talk) 19:56, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

That is incredibly silly, to think that the stairs were built by St. Joseph. If there were ever evidence needed of the gullibility of the religious, this would serve well. This article should be indexed under "bogus claims", "crackpot ideas", or other similar categories. 71.212.110.41 (talk) 05:47, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

ummmmmmmm
This article is entirely inconsistent. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 89.100.178.136 (talk) 21:39, 5 May 2007 (UTC).
 * Aside from that, the introduction focuses on the spiral staircase and no other aspect of the institution itself.


 * 71.241.70.24 (talk) 19:31, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

Main issue left out
The central issue at hand with the Loretto staircase is the fact that it has no nails, no pegs and no central post. What is required is someone with enough expertise to explain how this staircase can withstand the weight of 10+ people standing on it without falling apart. The physics is the real deal, not the authorship. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MaestroNaj (talk • contribs) 00:39, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Maestro, I agree. The central wood beam could not be cut from a single tree, as there would be no continuous grain to support the structure. Therefore, to be supported by the wood beam, the beam would have to have been steamed and the curved into shape, a task I don't believe is possible, given the thickness necessary to support the weight. Alternatively, the beam could be made from multiple pieces of wood connected in series, but that would be prone to movement and settling. The obvious answer is that the stairs are supported by a cast iron frame. This would allow the exterior finish wood to be attached using joinery, making it appear to use no nails or glue. Cast iron became widely used as an architectural material in the 1850's, both in the US and in France. Mikem000 (talk) 15:32, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

OK then... Cast iron would indeed do the trick. Has anyone tested this theory with a magnet? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.173.64.140 (talk) 03:18, 22 June 2010 (UTC)


 * I have visited this church myself. The staircase is inaccessible to visitors for safety reasons, and to help prevent vandalism. The church has allowed several independent inspections (they claim) and I feel assured that it does not have any iron. It's just well constructed. Cliff (talk) 22:37, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

simple answers
the french guy didnt build it. if you go backwards in time youll find he died in 1895 at 43 years old which means he was born in 1852. the staircase was build in 1872 by an old man, this french guy would only be 20 years old in 1872 and wouldnt look old so case closed on that one. the staircase itself is a beautiful peice of architecture and explainable. it mounts to the floor with the bottom step and each step after that connects at the bottom of the step to the top of the previous step providing downward support when pressure is applied. there is also support from the outside of the stairs and inside of the stairs on the twist. the floor twisting upward provides a upward spring effect and the wood grain going horizontally adds more streanth due to pulling against the grain of the wood. the anchoring of the top of the staircase to the flooring at the joices in the choir loft stops the stair caes from falling strait down and from twisting. the fact that he used wood pegs is brilliant because when you put a wood peg in a wood hole you wet the wood so it swells together and when it dries it shrinks together creating a tight hold and it acts as on peice of wood giving it alot more strength there may be alot of peices to the staircase but using the pegs makes the staircase one large peice of wood and incredibly strong.add all that together and it is a strong staircase and it would act like a reverse spring forcing it to stand instead of fall. this would also explain the steps feeling like your springing up when you step on them. the frenchman didnt build them due to age factors but the individule that did was brilliant and way ahead of his time to build such a architechually advanced structer such as this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.167.90.18 (talk) 21:17, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
 * This is a long paragraph. I do understand your points and I tend to agree on some of those points... but seriously man this is difficult to follow. You should edit. 75.134.26.34 (talk) 05:42, 13 September 2013 (UTC)

Poor Sourcing
I love this story but I do not think it belongs in a wikipedia article. At this time, there is a quote: "and who may have known or at least met anothector who worked on the Chapel." What in the hell does "anothector" mean? I want people to read this and learn the story. I do not want people to see the story and immediately dismiss it. I am removing the reference. 75.134.26.34 (talk) 05:22, 13 September 2013 (UTC)

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I'm sure it's already been thought of
I'm just curious as to if it was just carved out of the actual tree that was there? I'm sure this question has been asked before.... 50.81.59.225 (talk) 19:11, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

Lets Calm Down
Start with what we know. The bishop having the chapel built and the architect directing the work both came from France. The stonemasons came from France and Italy. Major items in the chapel, like the stain glass windows, came from France. It is highly likely the staircase was constructed in a shop in France (like the Statue of Liberty). The pieces were sent over for final assembly at the chapel. Mr. Rochas was sent over to do the assembly. The wood is not a native species to New Mexico because it came from Europe. MomentOfWonder (talk) 02:29, 16 March 2023 (UTC)