1850 Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy, originally from France, was appointed by the Catholic Church to the New Mexico Territory to establish churches and educational institutions.

1851 Bishop Lamy arrived in Santa Fe after a long journey across the United States. He appealed to the Catholic Teaching Order to open a school for girls. The Sisters of Loretto responded by sending six members on an arduous wagon journey from eastern Kentucky. Tragically, their Mother Superior succumbed to cholera along the way.

1873 Construction of Loretto Chapel began. Bishop Lamy encouraged the Sisters to use Parisian architects Antoine Mouly and his son, Projectus Mouly, who had also designed the nearby Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

1878 The Loretto Chapel was completed in the Gothic Revival style. Inspired by Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, the chapel features stained glass windows imported from France. Mouly’s plans for the chapel, however, did not include access to the choir loft before he passed away.
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The academy continued to grow, expanding to 300 students with ten buildings on campus. In 1927, they celebrated their Diamond Jubilee.
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Heritage Hotels & Resorts, Inc. acquired the Inn and Spa at Loretto, adding to its portfolio of culturally distinct hotels and resorts throughout New Mexico. Heritage’s founder and CEO Jim Long, has a deep connection to New Mexico’s history, with one of his uncles being the last Franciscan priest before the diocese acquired Santa Fe’s Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, just steps from the Inn and Spa at Loretto. Some of the original buildings from the academy still remain on the property. Heritage Hotels & Resorts’ Noble Purpose is to continue to preserve and advance the cultures of New Mexico.