The San Francisco de Asís Mission Church, completed after 43 years in 1815, lies in the historic district of Ranchos de Taos Plaza at the census-designated Ranchos de Taos, just south of Taos Pueblo in central Taos County (north New Mexico).

A Spanish mission was established in the early 1700s there and construction commenced around 1772 by the Franciscan Fathers as the center of a fortified plaza, which afforded protection against Comanche attacks, in a time that New Mexico was part of New Spain.

It is a large trademark adobe structure that measures about 37m in length and features a brace of bell towers either side of an arched entrance at the front looking on an enclosed courtyard.

It underwent a number of restorations with the last carried out in 1967 that saw a new roof placed over the structure where the ceiling beams, most corbels and the doors were replaced with copies of the original design.