Where: California
When: April 2018
With: Dave
The first European settlers to discover the beautiful, rocky coastline of California were the Spanish back in the 1500s. And where the settlers go, the religion must come too, and for the Spanish, that would be Catholicism. So not long after the coastline became inhabited, in came the missionaries, creating a series of churches up and down the coast, set on converting the Native American inhabitants and building up what are now the major towns and cities of California that we know today.
Eventually, the 21 missions were connected along a route called El Camino Real, or the Royal Road. This was spearheaded by a Spanish friar by the name of Junípero Serra, who ironically still has a major highway through northern California named after him. The devout would follow the road on a personal pilgirmage to visit all twenty-one. The missions themselves, which were largely abandoned in the mid-1800s when funding from the Spanish ceased, fell into varying states of disrepair until the early 1900s, when an effort to restore them took place. Now the 21 missions on the trail can be toured and explored from San Diego all the way up to Sonoma.
Since I don't anticipate ever visiting all 21 missions, we decided that two made a trail and for now, this would be enough to consider this Book item accomplished, even if only partially. So while we were in California last month, we picked out two that were along our route and paid them a visit.
The first one we visited was San Juan Bautista, the fifteenth of the 21 missions to be built. It is one of the most famous for both the size of its church and use in a famous Hollywood film, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. It sits just about an hour east of Monterrey, among the ridiculously gorgeous hills of central California. The town of the same name in which it sits is adorable, with beautifully manicured streets and shops. If we had known how beautiful it was, we would have planned for some more time there!
We arrived just as school was letting out and kids were playing soccer in the grassy area beside the mission. It was all incredibly peaceful and bucolic, a far cry from the traffic-heavy cities of California we were used to seeing.
When: April 2018
With: Dave
The first European settlers to discover the beautiful, rocky coastline of California were the Spanish back in the 1500s. And where the settlers go, the religion must come too, and for the Spanish, that would be Catholicism. So not long after the coastline became inhabited, in came the missionaries, creating a series of churches up and down the coast, set on converting the Native American inhabitants and building up what are now the major towns and cities of California that we know today.
Eventually, the 21 missions were connected along a route called El Camino Real, or the Royal Road. This was spearheaded by a Spanish friar by the name of Junípero Serra, who ironically still has a major highway through northern California named after him. The devout would follow the road on a personal pilgirmage to visit all twenty-one. The missions themselves, which were largely abandoned in the mid-1800s when funding from the Spanish ceased, fell into varying states of disrepair until the early 1900s, when an effort to restore them took place. Now the 21 missions on the trail can be toured and explored from San Diego all the way up to Sonoma.
Since I don't anticipate ever visiting all 21 missions, we decided that two made a trail and for now, this would be enough to consider this Book item accomplished, even if only partially. So while we were in California last month, we picked out two that were along our route and paid them a visit.
The first one we visited was San Juan Bautista, the fifteenth of the 21 missions to be built. It is one of the most famous for both the size of its church and use in a famous Hollywood film, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. It sits just about an hour east of Monterrey, among the ridiculously gorgeous hills of central California. The town of the same name in which it sits is adorable, with beautifully manicured streets and shops. If we had known how beautiful it was, we would have planned for some more time there!
We arrived just as school was letting out and kids were playing soccer in the grassy area beside the mission. It was all incredibly peaceful and bucolic, a far cry from the traffic-heavy cities of California we were used to seeing.
We entered into a pretty elaborate gift shop filled with religious trinkets to purchase tickets. After wandering through, we came out into a large courtyard, surrounded by the mission walls on three sides. This main garden was the center of activity at the height of the mission.
Some views of those rolling green hills in the distance.
The mission has been converted into a museum that explains the history of the building and how it has evolved over the years. Tourists have been visiting this site since the 1920s. The only awkward part of this building were the multiple signs explaining how we were very close to the San Andreas fault line and that this old building was not up to earthquake code, so in the event of an earthquake, RUN.
Of course, what would a mission be without a church? This one was beautiful, with the cool, whitewashed walls and exposed wood beams in the ceiling. And its three naves make it the widest of the mission churches.
The main altar was also pretty interesting, with its backlit religious figures. The altar was painted by a man named Thomas Doak, an American sailor who had jumped ship and offered to paint them in exchange for room and board. It reminds me a bit of the opening for The Muppet Show.
There was also a small chapel that was actually where original mass was held before the larger church was built. It is still used for daily mass now.
Back out in the courtyard, I loved the garden and the combination of palm trees, flowers, and cacti.
Paying homage to Junípero Serra.
In the movie Vertigo, one of the prominent scenes takes place in the bell tower that once stood above this mission. It turns out that the tower had been destroyed by a fire before Hitchcock had even chosen this mission as a filming location, so he recreated it using scale models and trick photography. The only remnant of the tower now is the bell that used to hang in it, sitting in the garden.
After we left the interior of the mission, we wandered around the outside towards where the bell tower used to stand, at the end of this columned walkway, on top of this building.
More gardens around this way as well.
A sign marking El Camino Real. The San Andreas fault line lies just at the bottom of this hill...
More hills surrounding the area and adding to the bucolic quiet of the town.
And so, one final shot of the towerless Mission San Juan Bautista.
After our visit here, it was time to keep heading west towards the water. We had a few days to spend in the Monterrey peninsula area, and while we were there, we took a visit to another mission, the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo. This was the second of the 21 missions to be founded. It was originally closer to Monterrey, but was moved to Carmel for better farming and to get away from a somewhat tyrannical leader of the military garrison it was a part of.
Sitting in the adorable town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, this mission also fit in with a quiet, simple, but beautiful life on the northern California coast (if simple is a word you can use). It also looks incredibly small from the outside, but as we wandered, it just kept expanding and growing, starting with the gardens right through the entrance.
The little church that stands in this initial courtyard had this really pretty, slightly askew star window that I really liked a lot.
Inside the church.
In 1987, Pope John Paul II visited this mission and prayed on this very spot. There is now a plaque and photo to commemorate this.
Along the side of the church is the mission's graveyard. One of the notable people buried here was Harry Downie, who was commissioned in the 1930s to restore the missions and made it his life's work. There is a small museum on the property containing his work tools, and he insisted on being buried here upon his death.
Across from the organized plots is a mass graveyard for all the converted Native Americans. It is a controversial relationship that the mission had with these individuals, as after converting them, some say they forced them into labor on behalf of the mission. The mission required their farming and masonry to survive, but at a severe cost, as the European diseases and difficult working conditions decimated several of these tribes.
Continuing around to the back of the church, this place just goes on and on and on.
We turned another corner where another, even larger, beautifully gardened courtyard opened up again. Apparently, this center courtyard is called a "quadrangle".
The last rooms we walked through as we left this mission were the refurbished rooms where Junípero Serra, the founder of the first 9 missions of the trail, including this one, died and was ultimately buried. This memorial show the friars praying for him.
We were blown away by how beautiful these two missions were. We anticipated a small rundown church, not these beautifully designed and maintained complexes. It has made us more intrigued by the other 19 missions on the trail, and as we visit them, I'll add them on below.
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