Global
Food Heritage Project
Food
Heritage Sites:
Preserved
| Remembered | Endangered
| Newsmakers
Endangered:
Plaza
del Cerro
Chimayo, New Mexico, USA
Aerial
view of Plaza del Cerro
Photo by Betsy Swanson, Historic
Preservation Division,
NM Office of Cultural Affairs
Plaza del Cerro, in the Northern
New Mexico village of Chimayo, is the most intact
Spanish Colonial plaza in New Mexico. Plazas were
rectangles of connected rooms surrounding an unfenced
open space used as a community vegetable garden.
Plazas were originally built for defensive purposes
to protect the colonial farmers from raiding Comanches
and other tribes.
Most plazas in New Mexico have either
disappeared altogether or been gentrified, with
old and new buildings catering to tourists. The
common garden spaces are now parks with trees,
lawn, flower beds, benches, sidewalks and gazebos.
For a variety of reasons, Chimayo's
Plaza has made it into the 21st century untransformed.
Ownership and title disputes, along with a lack
of a unified preservation vision among the residents,
have resulted in many abandoned and decaying adobe
buildings. The common area is overgrown with weeds
and trees.
The result is an historic space
that with all its problems is still closer to
its original state than any other. That's why
we have designated Plaza del Cerro an endangered
Global Food Heritage Site.
Click
here to read the full report on Plaza del Cerro.
Lost
But Not Forgotten
Mirapolis was a food-themed French amusement
park that existed from 1987 to 1991. Instead of
Mickey Mouse, this park featured Gargantua, the
fictional gourmet/glutton created by 16th writer
Rabelais.
Single subject
Culinary arts museums
Food origin heritage sites
Agricultural heritage sites
Virtual food museums
