Albuquerque prepares for 300th birthday

Albuquerque prepares for 300th birthday
By Peter Barnes, Associated Press
3/23/06

The 300th anniversary of the city's founding will take place on April 23, 2006, and in the year leading up to the tricentennial, the city will host art shows, concerts, dance performances and lectures.

Roman Catholic missionaries built churches among pueblo Indian communities in what is now Albuquerque in the early 1600s. As disease diminished Indian numbers, Spanish settlers moved into the Rio Grande Valley until a revolt drove them south in 1680. Spanish troops recaptured the area 12 years later.

On April 23, 1706, Spanish Gov. Francisco Cuervo y Valdes founded a new villa consisting of 35 families and named it Albuquerque in honor of the viceroy for New Spain, who was also the Duke of Alburquerque, a town in a rugged southwestern province of Spain. The extra "r" in the original name was eventually dropped in the spelling of the American town.

The Spanish town was named "Abu-al-Qurq" ?- which means town of the Christians and Jews ?- by Moors. Conquistadors from the region later joined in the exploration of the New World.

The tricentennial will focus on five eras in Albuquerque's history: native control of the area; Spanish rule; Mexican rule, which began in 1821; territorial administration, when the area was claimed by the U.S. government, beginning in 1846; and statehood, in 1912, when New Mexico became the 47th state.

A different theme will be highlighted each month as the celebration unfolds. May focuses on visual arts, and an important exhibit has just opened at the Albuquerque Museum. "El Alma de Espana," which means "the soul of Spain," showcases nearly 100 paintings and sculptures by Spanish masters like El Greco, Velasquez and Goya.

Two more shows will follow at the museum, "Prelude to Spanish Modernism: Fortuny to Picasso," from Aug. 21 to Nov. 27, and "Picasso to Plensa: A Century of Art from Spain," Dec. 18 through April 16, 2006. The three exhibits include works of art on loan from museums around the world.

A reenactment of a cattle drive is scheduled as part of the actual birthday celebration on April 23, and the king and queen of Spain have been invited to attend.

Albuquerque's many other attractions include the Sandia Peak Tramway, the world's largest aerial tram, which climbs nearly 3 miles to the peak of the Sandia Mountains; and the annual International Balloon Fiesta, the largest balloon event in the world, held each October.