About an hour and ten minutes north of Albuquerque in the Jemez Mountains (1.5 hours east of Santa Fe) lies the Jemez Historic Site where you can find the remnants of the 16th-century Gíusewa Pueblo and San Jose de los Jemez, a 17th-century Spanish colonial mission. Designated as a National Historic Landmark, it is the ancestral site of the nearby Jemez Pueblo and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Coming from the south, you will first travel through the Zia Pueblo on Hwy 550, before heading up Hwy 4 into the Jemez River Valley. The Zia symbol may seem familiar, as it was adapted as the symbol of New Mexico and can be seen on flags, license plates and bumper stickers all over the state. In spite of this, the Zia Pueblo remains quite impoverished, and there is resentment that they have not seen any economic benefits from the commercialization of their intellectual and spiritual property.
Zia.
As you drive into the mountains through the red rocks, the historical site will be on the east side of the road, near the mouth of Church Canyon. Remnant walls of the once impressive mission church can be seen, which were built from limestone, sandstone and volcanic tuff in the 1620's. Some parts have been finished with mud plaster or restored in the traditional style. A small cemetery and several other smaller foundations are found here as well.
Next door to the mission site lies the ruins of a medium sized pueblo, of around 200 rooms in five blocks. Some parts of the pueblo have been excavated and visitors are welcome to walk around and explore, but other sections have been plastered over to preserve them.
Jemez Pueblo probably looked like this: Taos Pueblo.
The Gíusewa Pueblo was first noted by Spanish explorers in the late 1500's, and a smaller mission was established there before 1600. Franciscan friars were mostly unsuccessful in their attempts to convert the tribe, with the Jemez even building a kiva for their own religious ceremonies in a part of the mission. When then Jemez took part in the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680, the Spanish were driven out of the region for 18 years.