San Juan Catholic Church Spiritual Center

Walk the same path where courageous Hispano settlers journeyed into Southern Colorado

from New Mexico to live their Catholic faith at the foot of the La Garita Mountains.

The SAN JUAN CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL CENTER is a unique 10-acre site that offers a historical view of cultural traditions and a Catholic way of life brought from old Spain by the first Hispano settlers who traveled to the Spanish northern frontier from New Mexico.

As a place of panoramic beauty, it is located in the northern portion of the San Luis Valley, protected by the rugged San Juan Mountain Range to the west and looks across the vast Valley floor towards the majestic Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east.

As a visitor, you can trace the path of the Hispano settlers when you see St. John the Baptist Catholic Church (Iglesia de San Juan Bautista); as you pause at the site of the ruins of the old convent, now a monument dedicated to San Juan Bautista (Casa de Cura/Convento); as you walk the St. John Paul II Rosary Walk with original buon fresco painting depicting Jesus’ life; and as you wander through the rows of graves in the Carnero Creek Cemetery (Cemetario del Carnero).

photos courtesy of San Juan Catholic Spiritual Center

San Juan Catholic Church Spiritual Center

Walk the same path where courageous Hispano settlers journeyed into Southern Colorado

from New Mexico to live their Catholic faith at the foot of the La Garita Mountains.

The SAN JUAN CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL CENTER is a unique 10-acre site that offers a historical view of cultural traditions and a Catholic way of life brought from old Spain by the first Hispano settlers who traveled to the Spanish northern frontier from New Mexico.

As a place of panoramic beauty, it is located in the northern portion of the San Luis Valley, protected by the rugged San Juan Mountain Range to the west and looks across the vast Valley floor towards the majestic Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east.

As a visitor, you can trace the path of the Hispano settlers when you see St. John the Baptist Catholic Church (Iglesia de San Juan Bautista); as you pause at the site of the ruins of the old convent, now a monument dedicated to San Juan Bautista (Casa de Cura/Convento); as you walk the St. John Paul II Rosary Walk with original buon fresco painting depicting Jesus’ life; and as you wander through the rows of graves in the Carnero Creek Cemetery (Cemetario del Carnero).

photos courtesy of San Juan Catholic Spiritual Center