The plaza is the central feature of Santa Fe for tourists, dignitaries and locals.  As a way of reminding all of us of the extraordinary history of the plaza, this study was prepared in 1990 to accompany an archaeological report on the plaza.  The study was prepared by Stanley Hordes, Boyd Pratt, Cordelia Thomas Snow, David Snow and Linda Tigges. 

Articles included are those on the plaza’s early history, its size and configuration as compared to that of other towns, and a review of seventeenth century Spanish land measurements.  Other documents on Spanish Colonial armor, drought patterns in seventeenth century New Mexico, Spanish laws on urban theory and city planning, and a translation of the “Instructions to Peralta on Santa Fe by the Viceroy.”