Not every sacred place has stained glass or steeples. Some are constructed of adobe, built by hand, and held together by generations of faith and community. In the oldest town in Colorado, the quiet walls of La Morada tell the story of the Penitentes, men (and later, women) whose devotion shaped daily life in Southern Colorado.
Constructed in the 1860s, La Morada served as the gathering place and spiritual center for La Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno (The Pious Fraternity of Our Father Jesus the Nazarene), a Hispano brotherhood that kept faith alive in rural communities when traveling priests were rare and resources were scarce. Within the walls of La Morada, the community prayed, sang, mourned, and celebrated. The Penitente Hermanos cared for the sick, buried the dead, baptized children, and provided sustenance to those in need. They also led prayers and guided the rituals that anchored small, rural community life.
At its height between 1870 and 1920, nearly every Hispanic community in the San Luis Valley had a morada. They were the backbone of cultural identity, but as modern churches spread and younger generations moved away, many became unused and abandoned. Today, only two active moradas remain in Colorado. La Morada in San Luis, one of the earliest and most significant, has been vacant for more than half a century. Time and weather have taken their toll on the building. Collapsed walls, eroded plaster, and fragile woodwork speak to the urgency of preservation.
Despite this, hope runs deep in San Luis. The building’s owner, Sandra Ortega, alongside the Costilla County Economic Development Council and the Sangre de Cristo Heritage Area, has already secured funding for emergency stabilization and restoration plans. Once restored, La Morada will become a community exhibit space interpreting the story of the Penitentes and their role in shaping Hispano settlement and spirituality across southern Colorado. The plan includes reuniting the local Heritage Center’s santos and retablos (Hispanic devotional art pieces) to their original home.
CPI is proud to partner with local stakeholders to raise awareness of La Morada’s significance within the state and support efforts to preserve this cornerstone of faith, identity, and tradition in the oldest town in Colorado.