Chapel, Santa Barbara
The first attempt to found San Juan Capistrano was in 1775, but due to an Indian uprising Father Lasuén was forced to return to San Diego. The next year Father Serra came and established the Mission. It took nine years to build and was the largest and most beautiful of all. In 1812 there was an earthquake that destroyed the buildings and killed forty Indians who were worshiping in the chapel. All of the buildings have been rebuilt except the chapel, of which one of the seven large domes still stands in its lonely grandeur, a delight to the artist. Capistrano, elaborately decorated and artistically constructed, is sometimes called “Jewel of the Missions.”
Façade, Santa Barbara
General View, Santa Barbara
San Gabriel Arcángel was a welcomed pause in the long journey from Mexico to Monterey; it was the first stop after crossing the desert and mountains. It is distinctively Moorish in its architecture. Its high buttressed walls are stone to the windows and brick above and have an outside stairway to the choir loft and campanile. In the courtyard is one of the largest and oldest grape vines in California.
Doorway