California Missions (2019 and 2023)
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This page gathers photos of 6 California missions that I took on several
trips: San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, San Miguel Arcangel, San Antonio de Padua,
San Juan Bautista, San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, and Santa Clara de Asis.
They belong to a series
of 21 California missions established between 1769 and 1833 by Franciscan
friars along a path ranging from San Diego to Sonoma, to convert Native
Americans to Christianity. The best known of these friars is Junipero Serra,
who previously founded several
missions in the Sierra Gorda (located in the State of Queretaro, Mexico)
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (2023):
This mission was established in
September 1772. It is located in the town of San Luis
Obispo.
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Paintings on the side walls of the nave.
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Mission San Miguel Arcangel (2023):
This mission is located in the village of San Miguel, 55 miles north of San Luis Obispo. It was
established in July 1797 near the Salinas River in an area inhabited by Salinan people. (The
ancestral territory of the Salinan consists of the Santa Lucia Mountains and
the southern part of the Salinas River valley. Today, Salinan work to get
federal tribal recognition from the United States. They call themselves Te'po'ta'ahl, which means ˝People of the Oaks˝.)
Multi-story brick bell tower on the
southern wall of the mission compound. (It was added to the mission in the
1950s.)
Main entrance of the mission.
Another entrance of the mission.
Fountain and arcade made of 12 arches of
slightly different sizes and shapes seen from the entrance of the mission. The
mission's church is partially visible on the right.
Another view of the arcade.
In the covered walkway of the arcade.
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Left: Fountain in the cloister of the
mission. Right: Decorated door in the walkway of the cloister.
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Interior of the mission's church. Note
the numerous Roman-style columns (some real, others painted on the walls)
decorated with blue stripes.
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Left photo: Altar and retable, with San
Miguel (central statue), the Eye of God (above San Miguel), San Francisco de
Asis (statue on the left, with, above it, the Franciscan coat of arms
representing two arms crossing each other over a cross), and San Antonio de
Padua holding the baby Jesus (statue on the right).
Right photo: Portion of a side wall in
the nave. The painted wall is original. The two paintings hanging on the wall
depict the Archangels San Gabriel and San Rafael.
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Left: Close-up of the statue of San
Miguel. Center: Christ. Right: Saint Mary holding Jesus.
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Left: Statue of Saint Joseph. Center and left: Wall pulpit with a wooden relief of
Saint Mary holding Jesus on one of its facets.
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Left: Life-size polychrome wooden statue
of San Miguel conquering the devil, exposed in the mission museum. Right: Bell
wall (called a ˝campanario˝) of the church; it is built in adobe
covered with river rocks.
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Another view of the bell wall, with a
portion of the mission's cemetery on the left.
Images depicting the building of the mission
(left) and a friar teaching music to Salinan (right), exposed in the museum.
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Mission San Antonio de Padua (2023):
View of the mission with snow-covered
Junipero Serra Peak (1785m), the highest summit in the Santa Lucia Mountains,
in the background.
Left: Brick facade of the mission's church.
Right: Mural in the entrance of the church celebrating a first marriage at the
mission.
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Inside the church: nave and altar.
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Left: Baptistery. Center: Statue above
the baptistery. Right: Wooden statue.
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Fountain in the mission's cloister.
Left: In the covered walkway of the
cloister. Center and Right: Doors in the walkway.
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Paintings and ornaments in the walkway
of the cloister.
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Mission San Juan Bautista (2019 and 2023):
This mission was established in 1797. It is located west of the town of
Hollister.
Arcades of the mission (2019).
Facade and belltower of the mission's church (2019).
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Another view of the church's facade (2023).
Nave of the church (2019).
Altar and retable (left: 2019; right:
2023).
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From left to right: baptistery, pulpit, and secondary altar (2023).
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Mission′s restored dining room (2019).
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de
Carmelo, Carmel (April 2023):
This
mission was established in 1770. It is located next to the town of Carmel.
Facade of the mission's church seen from its forecourt.
The church seen from the mission's central
courtyard.
Nave, altar, and retable in the church.
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Memorial cenotaph of Junipero Serra. (Junipero Serra is buried in the
church next to the altar.)
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Carvings on the two long sides of the memorial cenotaph.
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Two rooms in the former living quarters of the mission. The one on the
left is the library (the first one in California).
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Mission Santa Clara de Asis, Santa
Clara (December 2023):
Named after an early companion of Saint Francis, this mission was established
in 1777. It is located in the town of Santa Clara on
the campus of Santa Clara University, the oldest university in California
(established in 1851). Due to floods, earthquakes, and fires, it changed
location five times, before being moved to higher ground at its current
location in 1822. The church was enlarged in 1885. Following another fire in
1925, it was restored in 1929.
Facade of the mission's
church seen in the afternoon.
Covered outdoor walkway along one of the few remaining adobe
brick wall, next to the church.
Nave, altar, and retable of the church.
[The two
large paintings on the left and the right were created in 1931 by Mexican
artist Candelario Rivas (1877-1949).]
Closeup of the statues above the altar.
Left: Polychrome carving of a cherubin face at the base of the altar.
Center and right: Carvings of angels on the side walls of the chancel.
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Decorated ceiling, hanging chandelier, and pipe organ in the rear of the
nave.
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