Ruins of Cloister
Fountain Inner Court, San Juan Capistrano
On July 16th, 1769, sixteen days after his arrival in San Diego, Father Serra established the first mission in California—the Mission San Diego de Alcalá. The original site was unsatisfactory so a spot was later chosen six miles back from the ocean in Mission Valley where the present buildings now stand. San Diego was one of the wealthiest of the missions. It had extensive orchards and vineyards, irrigated by an aqueduct which brought water from the valley. Parts of the old mission dam which was twelve feet thick, may still be seen. The olive trees around the Mission form the mother orchard of all California mission olives. The whole Mission has been restored in every detail. Its belfry, one of the most magnificent of all the missions, is a three-story wall pierced by five arches in which hang the old bells.
Entrance to Church, San Gabriel
Bell Tower, San Gabriel
Four miles inland from Oceanside, in a beautiful valley, stands Mission San Luis Rey de Francia. The present buildings were started in 1811 by Father Peyri, who managed the Mission for thirty years. It is now used as a church and a Franciscan college. A feature not found in any other mission is the mortuary chapel, a small octagonal shaped room off the main chapel. San Luis Rey is typically Spanish in its architecture and while not one of the most beautiful, it has a stately magnificence that none of the other missions possesses.
