The bell tower design stands out as unique among California missions. Step inside to discover artwork brought from Spain in sailing ships long ago. The baptismal font, carved from a single stone, has ...

The landmark includes a museum, a chapel, gardens and trails. To get the full story, venture further up the valley to Mission San Diego de Alcala, the first of California’s 21 missions.

The Serra Chapel within the mission complex holds a special distinction as California’s oldest building still in use for its original purpose. Standing within its hushed interior, beneath hand-painted ...

The 21 California missions were established between 1769 and 1823 by Spanish Franciscans, based in Mexico City, to convert Native Americans to Catholicism.

Interpreters at mission sites today continue to situate colonial California within idyllic depictions consistent with the mission myth. While some contemporary sites attempt to present more balanced ...

On Jan. 13, 1777 Padre Thomas Peña, under the direction of Padre Junípero Serra, officially founded Mission Santa Clara de Asís, the eighth of California’s 21 missions.

Out of 18th century California, the Camino Real runs down the American West Coast, linking 21 Spanish missions between San Diego, near the Mexican border, and Sonoma, north of San Francisco. Let ...

A statue of a late Native American leader has been unveiled outside California’s state Capitol building, replacing a monument of a Spanish missionary that was toppled by protesters in 2020. The ...

According to the California State Capitol Museum, his statue in Capitol Park was erected in 1965 to honor his missionary work. Serra founded the first nine Spanish missions of the 21 that dot the ...