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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2002

Six Acoma Pueblo men are working full-time to restore the New Mexico tribe's nearly 400-year-old church.

The men have received $500,000 from the tribe and a grant from the World Monuments Fund, Save America's Treasures and Cornerstones Community Partnerships. The project is expected to take four more years and cost about $5 million.

The church was ordered built in 1629 by the local Catholic priest. Pueblo men were sent 30 miles away to gather building materials and weren't allowed to let the wood touch the ground.

The men had to then take the wood up the 350-foot cliff to the top of the mesa where the Pueblo village is located. It took 11 years to complete the church.

Get the Story:
Church Revival: Acoma Renovates 373-year-old San Esteban del Rey (The Albuquerque Journal 2/17)