Palace of the Governors

The Palace of the Governors on the north side of the Santa Fe Plaza is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States, dating to 1610 when Spanish colonists established it as the seat of colonial government in New Mexico. The long, single-story adobe structure once housed Spanish colonial governors, served as the center of Pueblo Indian government during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 when Indigenous people recaptured and occupied the territory for 12 years, and later housed Mexican and U.S. Territorial administrators. Today the building is operated as a history museum by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, with rooms containing permanent and rotating exhibitions on New Mexico history from the Pueblo period through 20th-century statehood. The collection includes Spanish colonial furniture and religious art, military uniforms, Territorial period photography, maps drawn by Spanish and Mexican cartographers, and objects illustrating daily life across five centuries. The famous covered portal — the long colonnaded arcade facing the plaza — has served since the 1970s as a licensed market where Native American artisans registered with 19 authorized Pueblos and tribes sell handmade jewelry, pottery, and art directly from blankets laid under the colonnade. The Portal Program is strictly regulated: all pieces must be genuinely handcrafted by the enrolled artisan themselves, and buyers can speak directly with the maker. The Palace is connected to the New Mexico History Museum complex next door; a single admission ticket covers both facilities. The building's location directly on the Santa Fe Plaza makes it walkable from nearly every downtown hotel and restaurant.