Salinas Pueblo Missions

About Salinas Pueblo Missions

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument preserves the ruins of four 17th-century Spanish colonial missions and associated Pueblo Indian villages in central New Mexico. Managed by the National Park Service (NPS), the monument tells the story of the complex cultural interactions between Spanish colonists and Pueblo peoples during the early colonial period. The three main sites - Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira - showcase impressive stone church ruins and pueblo structures that demonstrate the blending of Spanish and Native American architectural traditions. These sites provide insight into the challenges of colonization, religious conversion, and ultimately the abandonment of these communities in the 1670s.