The everyday living spaces inside Spanish-New Mexican houses tend to combine domestic activities and to appear similar in space and decor. Inside a Hispano church, however, areas of special useage are marked off clearly within the volume. Celebration of the mass requires a special spatial treatment to indicate the sanctuary. This area is emphasized by an arched entry, lateral pilasters, raised floor, and characteristically convergent side walls. These slanting walls provide better vision for the congregation and easier movement for the celebrants. The convergent wall of sanctuaries is often visible from the exterior. It is noteworthy that both the contracted sanctuary of local churches and the linear arrangement of domestic interiors appear in the penitente moradas of Abiquiú.
In the plans of the Abiquiú moradas (Figure 4), the identical arrangement of the three rooms reveals an origin in the typical Hispano house form. George Kubler has observed that the design of moradas "is closer to the domestic architecture of New Mexico than to the churches."[45] Bainbridge Bunting confirms the houselike form of moradas but notes their lack of uniformity.[46] In comparison to moradas of the L-plan,[47] and even of the pre-1856 T-plan structure at Arroyo Hondo,[48] the two penitente buildings at Abiquiú preserve a simple | shape with one significant variation—a contracted chancel.
Figure 3. North roofline of east morada, showing exposed ends of ceiling beams (vigas), chimney of oratory stove, and construction of water drain (canal).
Figure 4. Plans of south morada (top) and east morada (bottom): A=altar; B=standard; C=candelabra; D=sandbox; E=benches; F=fireplace; G=stove; H=chest; I=tub.
The basic form of the Abiquiú moradas (Figures 5 and 6) is a rectangular box that closely resembles nearby houses. Even the long, windowless north facade of both Abiquiú moradas recalls the unbroken walls of earlier Hispano houses in hostile frontier regions. The Abiquiú moradas, however, possess one exception to the domestic form—a narrowed, accented end. On each morada the west end is blunted and buttressed by a salient bell tower of stones laid in adobe mortar and strengthened by horizontal boards (Figures 7 and 8). This innovation in the form of the Abiquiú moradas appears to be ecclesiastic in origin.
Figure 5. South Morada. Size: 24.02 meters long, 5.41 wide, 3.51 high. Date: About 1900. Location: 400 meters south of Santo Tomás Church in main plaza; seen from southeast corner. Manufacture: Adobe bricks on stone foundation; wood door and window frames.
