Coronado Historic Site

State Historic Site Preserving Kuaua Pueblo On The Rio Grande; Its Reconstructed Kiva Holds Reproductions Of Pre Columbian Mural Paintings Whose Originals, Lifted In The 1930s, Are Among The Finest Known In North America · Bernalillo, New Mexico

Kuaua was a Tiwa pueblo of well over a thousand rooms on the east bank of the Rio Grande, occupied from about 1300, and it was standing when Coronado's expedition wintered in this stretch of the valley in 1540. When the site was excavated in the 1930s the diggers found something almost unheard of: a square kiva whose plastered walls had been painted, replastered and painted again seventeen times, with murals of figures, animals and rain symbolism preserved layer on layer. They were lifted, separated and conserved, and they are now regarded as among the finest pre-Columbian paintings known north of Mexico. Some of the original panels hang in the visitor centre; the kiva itself was rebuilt on its own foundations and lined with reproductions, and you climb down a ladder into it. The site is named for Coronado, which is a nineteen-thirties choice that the interpretation on the panels now argues with at some length.

485 Kuaua Road, Bernalillo, Bernalillo, New Mexico, 87004, United States

Open most days through daylight hours with at least one weekday closure and reduced winter hours, closing on several state holidays. Access into the reconstructed kiva to see the murals is by staff escort down a ladder and depends on someone being available, so it is not guaranteed at every hour of every day. The original lifted mural panels are displayed in the visitor centre and are viewable whenever the building is open.

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