By Linda Tancs

New Mexico’s capital city of Santa Fe is celebrating its 400th anniversary all year long.  So what’s in it for you?  Plenty.  Be inspired by the landscape often depicted by American painter Georgia O’Keeffe, whose works are exhibited in the city’s Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.  Nicknamed “The City Different,” Santa Fe is the product of centuries of co-existence among Native Americans, Spanish, Mexican, European and African Americans.  For instance, Canyon Road was a route by which Native Americans brought their goods to trade with the Spanish settlers in the Plaza de Santa Fe, where the Spanish began to build their adobe homes in the 1750s.  A fine example of adobe is the Palace of the Governors, which  served as Spain’s seat of government for the entire Southwest region.  In this city also stands North America’s oldest church, San Miguel Chapel, whose adobe walls were constructed around 1610.  Another curiosity is the Loretto Chapel, drawing visitors the world over for its remarkable spiral staircase to the choir loft built without any visible means of support with nails or beams, considered a miracle by the convent’s Sisters of Loretto.  Other attractions include world-renowned art galleries, marketplaces, and performance venues, accessible on foot or by city bus.