America's oldest capital city — where Santa Fe was founded in 1610 as the capital of the Kingdom of New Mexico (before the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock) and its central Plaza has been in continuous use since 1610, making it the oldest public square in the USA, the Palace of the Governors (1610, the longest continuously occupied public building in the United States) lines the north side of the Plaza where Pueblo Native American vendors have sold handmade jewellery under its portal every day since the 1880s, Canyon Road's 2 km gallery district contains more art galleries per block than anywhere in America (250+ galleries and studios), and the entire city is built in Pueblo Revival adobe architecture so distinct that it has its own zoning code requiring all new buildings to match the style
Santa Fe (85,000 city; 215,000 metro) is the capital of New Mexico and at 2,200 metres elevation is the highest state capital in the USA — a high desert city with a distinctive tri-cultural identity (Native American, Spanish colonial, and Anglo-American) that is one of the most distinctive urban cultures in North America. Santa Fe is the third-largest art market in the USA after New York and Los Angeles.
Santa Fe was established as Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís (Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi) in 1610 by Spanish Governor Pedro de Peralta — making it one of the oldest European-founded capitals in what is now the United States, predating the Pilgrims' landing at Plymouth by 10 years. The Palace of the Governors was built in 1610 and has been the seat of government continuously since — under Spanish colonial rule (1610–1680), Pueblo governance (1680–1692, following the Pueblo Revolt in which the Pueblo people drove the Spanish out of New Mexico entir…