The Spanish Missions of California - Clio

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1. Mission San Diego de Alcalá (CA Mission #1)

First of the 21 missions and known as the Mother of the Missions, the Mission San Diego de Alcalá was founded on July 16, 1769 by Spanish Franciscan priest Junípero Serra. As the farthest south of the missions, it was the starting part for travelers and goods coming overland from New Spain (Mexico). It was designated as a Minor Basilica in 1976 by Pope Paul VI, and the Mission today is an active Catholic Parish in the Diocese of San Diego and an important cultural center for people of all faiths. Given its historical significance, the church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970; it is also a National Historic Landmark, a California Historical Landmark, and a San Diego Historical Landmark.

2. San Luis Rey Mission Church (CA Mission #18)

Founded 29 years after the first mission, the aptly named "King of Missions" quickly outstripped its brethren to become the most populous of all Spanish missions in California after humble beginnings in 1798. Gathering converts from the Payomkowishum Indian tribes living in the hills near present-day Oceanside, by 1825 San Luis Rey was home to over 2,800 "Luiseños," roughly three times the number of neophytes at the average mission. Despite this prosperity, however, the eighteenth mission fell into abandonment and disrepair with its brethren after the newly independent Mexican government secularized Franciscan lands in 1834. A loyal group of Luiseños stayed on after the secularization, but none remained by the time the Mormon Battalion, a United States military unit, made camp at the site during the Mexican War. A group of Zacatecan Franciscans took over the church in 1893, and throughout the 20th Century, the mission underwent massive restoration. It is now one of the most impressive examples of Mission architecture remaining in California--featuring the largest surviving church, and the very first pepper tree planted in the state. The church, museum, and grounds are open to the public (fees apply in some areas).

3. Mission San Juan Capistrano (CA Mission #7)

A historic Spanish mission founded in 1776 (as the American Revolution was being fought on the other side of the continent) by Spanish Catholic missionaries belonging to the Franciscan Order, Mission San Juan Capistrano was the seventh of twenty-one Spanish missions constructed in California and is the oldest building in the state still in use today. The mission was named after the 15th century theologian and "warrior" priest Giovanni da Capistrano. The site contains the ruins of a church built in the early 1800s and a chapel that is still used for services. The mission was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and is also a California Historical Landmark.

4. Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (CA Mission #4)

The fourth Spanish mission established in California, San Gabriel Arcangel was founded in 1771--only a few years before the American Revolution broke out on the other side of the continent. Two Franciscan friars and ten soldiers set out from the Spanish settlement in San Diego with instructions to raise their cross "forty leagues" north. The original site, in present-day Montebello, was destroyed by flood five years after its founding, causing the current location to be selected in 1776. The mission flourished until 1834, when Franciscan lands were secularized and sold to friends of Mexican Governor Pio Pico. In 1908, the remaining establishment was placed back in the care of the Catholic church. Today the mission, which played a crucial role in the development of Los Angeles, welcomes visitors to the church, museum, and grounds, the latter of which offer views of extensive ruins.

5. Mission San Fernando Rey de España (CA Mission #17)

The Mission San Fernando Rey de España is one of the earliest Spanish Franciscan missions established in California. Founded in 1797, it was hugely successful as a religious, cultural, and agricultural center in the San Fernando Valley for its first several decades. Despite maintaining the presence of Franciscan friars and Indian neophytes even after the secularization of the missions in 1834, the mission was confiscated and sold by Pio Pico--the last Mexican governor of Alta California--in 1845. A year later, American forces seized Los Angeles during the Mexican War. The mission was returned to the Catholic church in the 1860s in state much reduced, but massive restoration efforts during the 20th Century returned much of tis former architectural glory. The convent has been added to the National Register of Historic Places and is a recognized California Historical Landmark.

6. San Buenaventura Mission (CA Mission #9)

Also known as the "Mission by the Sea", California’s ninth Spanish mission was founded on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1782 by Father Junipero Serra. Though originally intended to be the third in line, it proved to be Serra’s last--the famous founding father of the California missions would die two years later, and his successors built the remaining twelve. Despite decades of neglect after the missions were secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, San Buenaventura was the seed for the modern city and county of Ventura. Today the church is fully restored to its original design, and maintains an active chapter of Franciscan monks. In addition to a museum, an archive was founded in 2012 to preserve documents and artifacts important to the mission’s history.

7. Mission Santa Barbara (CA Mission #10)

Known as "The Queen of the Missions," Santa Barbara is the only California mission to remain continuously under the operation of the Catholic church since its founding. It is the tenth of the state's twenty-one Franciscan missions established during the Spanish colonization of Alta California, an extension of Spain's territorial conquests in Mexico. Many of the infrastructural projects that supported the mission since the 1800s have paved the way for the modern city of Santa Barbara, which takes its name from the mission. Through its eventful history, the tenacious establishment has weathered multiple earthquakes, drought, corrupt governors, and even a pirate raid. Today the mission, museum, and grounds remain open to the public year-round for a small admission fee, and several types of guided tours are available.

8. Mission Santa Ines (CA Mission #19)

A Spanish mission located in the Danish town of Solvang, Santa Ines is known as the "Hidden Gem of the Missions." One of the final missions to be built--and the last in Southern California--its construction was set back by the massive earthquake of 1812. An Indian revolt in 1824 burned much of the original mission to the ground, and the Mexican government's secularization of mission lands in 1834 nearly spelled the end for Santa Ines. The birth of California's first institution of higher learning at the mission, however, and an influx of Danish immigrants in the early 1900s saved the mission from decay, and today it serves as a renowned museum and parish for the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

9. La Purisima Mission State Historic Park (CA Mission #11)

Established more than a decade after the Franciscan friars first began colonizing California for the Catholic church and Spanish crown in the late 1700s and early 1800s, La Purisima Concepcion was fraught with misfortune during the mission's first century. Earthquakes, Native American revolts, the Mexican Revolution, and simple neglect all took their toll on the unique architecture of the eleventh California mission. In the 1930s, the mission was at last restored by the Civilian Conservation Corps, designated a State Park and entered on the National Register of Historic Places. The most extensively restored mission in the state, La Purisima hosts over 200,000 visitors each year for recreation and a chance to explore California's heritage. Living history experts engage in weaving, pottery making, candle making, Blacksmithing, livestock production, and leatherwork. In addition to the restored original buildings, the nearly 2,000 acre park is home to 25 miles of hiking trails, a modern Visitor Center and Exhibit Hall, and livestock.

10. Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (CA Mission #5)

Founded by Father Junipero Serra in 1772, California’s fifth mission has survived to convey its name to the city that grew up around it. Mission Church of San Luis Obispo’s design is unusual: its combination of belfry and vestibule is found nowhere else among the California missions. An unusually large secondary nave is situated to the right of the altar, making this the only "L"-shaped mission church among all of the California missions. Today it is a parish church of the Diocese of Monterey, and is one of the few missions that still stands upon its original site.

11. Mission San Miguel Arcangel (CA Mission #16)

The 16th mission established in California, San Miguel Arcangel was set in a critical location bridging the gap between missions San Antonio de Padua to the north and San Luis Obispo de Tolosa in the south. With these two missions separated by 77 miles, San Miguel made it possible to find shelter halfway between, allowing for travelers on horseback to easily spend each consecutive night at a mission in the area. Named after the Archangel Michael, the mission’s primary goal to was to Christianize the Native Americans of the Salinas Valley.

12. Mission San Antonio de Padua (CA Mission #3)

The third California mission established, this mission was a vital link between the first mission, San Diego de Alcala, and the second, San Carlos Borromeo, hundreds of miles to the north. It was a difficult trek in its day, and the new mission made it far easier to rest and resupply during the long overland trek along the frontier of Alta California. Founded by Father Junipero Serra, it was the first of the missions to perform a Christian marriage and to use fired-tile roofing. Today, though surrounded by US Army installation Fort Hunter Liggett, it is still open for public tours.

13. Mission Nuestra Senora de Soledad (CA Mission #13)

Known colloquially as the Soledad Mission or Mission Soledad, California’s thirteenth Spanish mission located near the present-day town of Soledad, California. It was is named for Mary, Our Lady of Solitude. Built halfway between Mission San Borromeo in Carmel and Mission Antonio de Padua in present-day Jolon, Mission Soledad irrigated the otherwise desolate valley around with water drawn miles away from the Salinas River. Never one of California’s most prosperous missions, it fell victim to extreme neglect for more than a century after the Mexican Secularization Laws took effect in 1834. The chapel and part of the mission were restored through heroic effort in the 1950s and 1960s. With further funding, it is hoped that more of the original mission can be rebuilt.

14. Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo (CA Mission #2)

Established second of all the Spanish missions in “Alta” (Upper) California, Mission San Carlos Borromeo was founded in 1770, only a year after San Diego de Alcala hundreds of miles to the south. Padre Junipero Serra, founder and first Presidente of the Missions of California, chose it as his headquarters, which soon gave rise to the town of Monterey as the Spanish capital in California. The permanent Mission was eventually built in present-day Carmel-by-the-Sea, several miles away from the original site in Monterey. Though the original structures fell into disrepair by the mid-19th Century, they were later restored and continue to serve as an active Roman Catholic church, the Carmel Mission Basilica.

15. Mission San Juan Bautista (CA Mission #15)

As the fifteenth mission established, San Juan Bautista shortened a crucial gap between Missions Santa Cruz and San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo. It maintained a very energetic congregation despite the Secularization Laws of 1834, and remains an active Catholic church today. It was named in honor of John the Baptist and is the namesake for the town San Juan Bautista. In addition to its religious and colonial history, the mission and town became part of one of the most iconic scenes in Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1958 film, VERTIGO.

16. Mission Santa Cruz (CA Mission #12)

The twelfth of the Spanish missions established in California, despite being well-situated near a wealth of resources, was plagued by many issues throughout its tenure under the Franciscan friars who founded it. Floods, earthquakes, Native American attacks, and pirate raids all contributed to its precipitous decline after secularization, resulting in Mission Santa Cruz being largely abandoned after 1835. Though the original is long gone, a replica chapel now stands near the site, and a marker indicates the location of the stone church built in 1793 by the Spanish padres and Native American neophytes.

17. Mission Santa Clara de Asis (CA Mission #8)

The 8th of 21 missions established in California, Mission Santa Clara was ruined and rebuilt six times, and relocated on five separate occasions. Its final location now resides within Santa Clara University, California's oldest college, where it serves as the university's main chapel. In addition to being the second mission established in the San Francisco Bay Area, it was also the first mission named after a woman: Saint Clare of Assisi.

18. Mission San Jose (CA Mission #14)

Founded in 1797, the fourteenth of California’s missions proved one of its most enduring and successful through the early 1800s, though in 1829 it was the epicenter of a major Native American rebellion fomented by the legendary Yokut leader Estanislao. A devastating earthquake in 1868 destroyed the original chapel and other structures, and despite several reconstructions in the 19th and 20th century, Mission San Jose was largely in ruins until 1982, when a full restoration project was undertaken. The only surviving original adobe structure, the dormitories of the Spanish padres, was restored and a faithful reconstruction of the Mission’s first chapel was built. Today, Mission Jose continues to hold regular services as part of the Catholic Church’s Oakland Diocese. A small museum in the dormitory wing educates visitors about the lives of Spanish and Native American alike through the 1800s.

19. Mission San Francisco de Asís / Mission Dolores (CA Mission #6)

Founded sixth of the California missions, Mission San Francisco de Asís is the oldest surviving structure within the city of San Francisco. Founded in 1776 by Lieutenant Jose Joaquin Moraga (who is buried in the Mission cemetery) and Padre Francisco Palou during the famed de Anza Expedition, the site includes a cemetery and gardens as well as the graves of many notable historical figures. The famous Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo filmed a scene in the mission and the mission's cemetery.

20. Mission San Rafael Arcangel (CA Mission #20)

Constructed second to last of the 21 California missions, San Rafael Arcangel alone was not originally intended as a mission at all. This first permanent Spanish establishment on the north coast of the San Francisco Bay was actually founded in 1817 as a hospital for the ailing population of Mission San Francisco de Asis (“Mission Dolores”). Its rapid growth prompted an official designation as Mission on October 19, 1822. It briefly served as an encampment for Lt. Colonel John C. Fremont and his “Bear Flag Revolt” in 1846, immediately preceding America’s war with Mexico and its annexation of California. The original mission was largely destroyed over the following century, until a replica chapel was built in 1949 with the support of the Hearst Foundation. Today it resides adjacent to the larger Saint Raphael parish church and is open seven days a week for tours, weddings, liturgies, prayer groups, and other events.

21. Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma (CA Mission #21)

The last of the California missions to be built, San Francisco Solano de Sonoma was also the only one constructed during Mexican rule of Alta California (Upper California) and without approval of the Catholic Church. Despite the Mexican government’s distrust of the missions and their Franciscan friars, the mission at Sonoma was deemed a prudent way to thwart Russian territorial ambitions and protect Mexico’s northern frontier.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

The Spanish Missions of California

Created by Kyle Warmack on November 30th 2017, 3:41:40 pm.

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Description

These 21 Franciscan missions represent the oldest European settlements in California and are many of the state's oldest surviving buildings. The four largest cities in California took root around the missions as the state progressed from native land to Spanish colony, from Mexican territory to independent republic, and finally joined the United States in 1850. Built by Catholic priests of the Franciscan order between 1769 and 1833 as Spain expanded northward from their conquests in Mexico, these iconic structures were part of a Spanish program pairing religious conversion with military subjugation, whereby the Spaniards subsumed the lifestyles and culture of indigenous peoples into a new way of life centered around the Catholic ideology of the missions. Politically, the chain of missions was intended to lay claim to "Alta" California before other European powers, such as the Russians, English, and French. For ease of navigation, the tour runs in geographical order from south to north.

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