Today, Santa Fe “The City Different” continues to be proud of its numerous historic sites and museums, its hundreds of art galleries, and perhaps the most colorful culinary scene in the country.
Santa Fe, New Mexico’s capital, sits in the Sangre de Cristo foothills. It’s renowned for its Pueblo-style architecture and as a creative arts hotbed. Founded as a Spanish colony in 1610, it has at its heart the traditional Plaza. The surrounding historic district’s crooked streets wind past adobe landmarks including the Palace of the Governors, now home to the New Mexico History Museum.

The city of Santa Fe is a place that combines many virtues together. Rich heritage, fantastic landscapes, proximity to the desert and closeness to wildlife, great art and culture. In addition to more than 250 galleries in Santa Fe, there are many things to explore for people of all ages. Known as “The City Different,” the nation’s oldest state capital city is a place unlike any other in the world. Santa Fe is 400 + years of cultural fusion with echoes of the past alive in the present. While history is an ever–powerful presence, there is also a thriving contemporary and progressive sophistication. Santa Fe is stimulating yet relaxing, playful but educational, centuries old with modern touches.

Thirteen years before Plymouth Colony was settled by the Mayflower Pilgrims, Santa Fe, New Mexico, was established with a small cluster of European type dwellings. It would soon become the seat of power for the Spanish Empire north of the Rio Grande. Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in United States and the oldest European community west of the Mississippi.

While Santa Fe was inhabited on a very small scale in 1607, it was truly settled by the conquistador Don Pedro de Peralta in 1609-1610. Santa Fe is the site of both the oldest public building in America, the Palace of the Governors and the nation’s oldest community celebration, the Santa Fe Fiesta, established in 1712 to commemorate the Spanish reconquest of New Mexico in the summer of 1692. Peralta and his men laid out the plan for Santa Fe at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the site of the ancient Pueblo Indian ruin of Ogha Po’oge (Tewa for White Shell Water Place).

The city has been the capital for the Spanish “Kingdom of New Mexico,” the Mexican province of Nuevo Mejico, the American territory of New Mexico (which contained what is today Arizona and New Mexico) and since 1912 the state of New Mexico. Santa Fe, in fact, was the first foreign capital over taken by the United States, when in 1846 General Stephen Watts Kearny captured it during the Mexican–American War.

Ski Santa Fe offers something special for everyone and prides itself on being family friendly. With a base elevation of 10,350 ft, Ski Santa Fe is the launching point for a ski experience you will never forget, whether cruising the perfect groomers or exploring the extensive gladed runs. It’s located 16 miles east of the state capital of Santa Fe and incudes 7 lifts and 68 runs at elevation of over 10,000 feet. The resort covers two mountains, Lake Peak and Tesuque Peak. The ski runs run down to the base in a fan shape and include glades for advanced skiers. The resort has a wonderful range of terrain for all levels.