Loretto Chapel Staircase

31 Aug

loretto chapel unsolved mystery — The stunning Loretto Chapel with its famous helix staircase.

The City of Santa Fe, New Mexico is known for its art, stunning architecture and long history of indigenous occupation. Hidden away in the city’s Loretto Chapel is a staircase with a surprising history. Some claim it’s construction was a miracle and it should not be possible for it to exist.

The Loretto Chapel

The Loretto Chapel was in 1873 constructed by the Catholic Sisters of Loretto for their girls' school named the Loretto Academy. French architect Projectus Mouly was the main architect for the project, basing his design on Paris’s famous Sainte-Chapelle. It took five years for the building to be completed and the chapel was officially consecrated and opened for use in 1878.

Loretto Chapel was used as a part of the Loretto Academy and by the nuns until it was deconsecrated in 1968. Afterwards the rest of the academy buildings were demolished but the chapel became a museum and wedding venue.

The Legend of The Staircase

A close up view of the gorgeous Loretto Chapel staircase — A close up view of the miraculous staircase

The nuns were thrilled with their new chapel, except for one rather significant problem: there was no way to access the choir loft.

The architect Projectus Mouly passed away unexpectedly before he was able to complete the staircase leading to the loft.

The nuns brought in several carpenters to try and create a suitable staircase but none were able to provide a suitable solution. The space was very small and too many pews would need to be removed to create a standard staircase making the building unusable.

The nuns were at a loss for how to finish their chapel so they decided to pray to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters.

They prayed together for nine days, hoping for a miracle. On the ninth day a mysterious carpenter arrived and told the nuns he would complete the staircase for them.

The carpenter worked alone using only hand tools and never revealed his identity to the nuns.He worked tirelessly for 6 months before abruptly leaving without accepting any payment.

The nuns were stunned with the beautiful staircase he had created. It seemed to stand on its own without any central beam for support. It also had 33 steps, one for each year Jesus was alive. The wood used to create it was not local able to be identified.

Word spread of this miraculous staircase and people have since travelled from all over the world to view it.

Modern Investigations

One of the aspects of the staircase that is claimed to be miraculous is its lack of a central support pole.

Upon further investigation it has been found that the staircase is actually supported by stringers in a similar way to a conventional straight staircase. In this case however the stringers are twisted into a helix shape to go with the flow of the design.

An analysis by a professional carpenter concluded that the staircase is strong because the glue used with the wood creates a laminate that is stronger than the wood on its own. The wooden pegs used instead of iron nails protect the staircase from degradation.

A historian named Mary J. Straw Cook researched the Sante Fe stairs for 7 years eventually coming to the conclusion that the mysterious carpenter was a man named Francois-Jean Rochas.

Cook found an entry in the nuns’ daybook dated to 1881 which indicated that they had paid a man name Rochas “for wood.”

Cook also found an old newspaper article in The New Mexican that told of a Mr. Rochas who had been murdered who was a skilled carpenter.

Cook believes that Francois-Jean Rochas came to the U.S. from France specifically to build the Sante Fe staircase and that he had the wood shipped from his homeland.

While some aspects of the mystery have been explained what we still don’t know is how Mr. Rochas gained the knowledge required to build such a complicated staircase with only basic tools and materials.

The Loretto Chapel on Unsolved Mysteries

The miracle of the Loretto Chapel Staircase was featured on the beloved series Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack. You can watch the episode featuring it below.