The famous Quarai Church and Ruins are located nine miles north of Mountainair, New Mexico, and lie at the base of the Manzano Mountains. The area has a rich history tied to its natural spring, which drew the ancestral Pueblo people to settle and cultivate the land around 1300. The Tiwa-speaking inhabitants were primarily farmers who also traded, crafted tools, and produced intricate pottery. Quarai remained an isolated settlement until the establishment of the Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Quarai in 1626. The mission became a center for religious and cultural exchange between the Pueblo people and the Spanish. The church, constructed from locally quarried red sandstone, was an architectural marvel, designed to impress and inspire. Its ruins, which still stand today, glow a vivid red in the sunlight. Quarai remained an active mission and pueblo until 1677, when the community migrated north due to drought and pressures from raids.

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Elevation 2,020 m

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