La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles (The Church of Our Lady Queen of the Angels)

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles or The Church of Our Lady Queen of the Angels, is a historic Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles. The church was founded by the Spanish settlers in the early 19th century at a time when modern-day California and much of the southern U.S., was under Spanish rule. El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles (the Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels) was the name of the Spanish city that would go on to be known as Los Angeles in the 20th Century.

Images

A shot of the church from the outside.

A service in the church.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Founded on August 18, 1814 under Franciscan Fray Luis Gil y Taboada, La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles (The Church of Our Lady Queen of the Angels), didn't have a church building until 1784. Their second church building was constructed in 1822 to serve the new settlement of Los Angeles Pobladores

The chapel named La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles was constructed using the materials left over from the original church building. Over the years the small chapel, which collected the nicknames "La Placita" and "Plaza Church, was the only Roman Catholic church in the emerging area of Los Angeles.

The church has been operated by the Claretian Missionary Fathers since 1908 and was designated as a cultural landmark in 1962. Today the church is part of the Diocese of Los Angeles and serves as a neighborhood parish church.

Sources

Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles. Mission Tour. July 17, 2016. Accessed July 09, 2017. http://missiontour.org/wp/sangabriel/nuestra-senora-la-reina-de-los-angeles.html.

La Placita. Accessed July 09, 2017. http://laplacita.org/.

Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles Our Lady Queen of Angels. HMDB. Accessed July 09, 2017. https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=50935.