Salinas Pueblo Missions NM - Abo Ruins

Larger than Quarai, with about 800 inhabitants, Abo also dates back to the 1300's. It's located on a pass opening into the Rio Grande Valley and was a major trading center. Like Quarai, the pueblo, and later the church, were made from the red sandstone of the area.

Fray Francisco Fonte arrived in the 1620's and built a small church, then began work in the surrounding pueblos: Tenabo, Tabira and Los Humanas (Gran Quivira). Fray Francisco de Acevedo, arriving in 1629, enlarged the church of San Gregorio de Abo to reflect its importance as missionary headquarters. The church, which was completed in 1651, employed buttresses, making it one of the few surviving examples of medieval architecture in the U.S.