♪♫♫☺♫♫♪ Right in the heart of Mission Valley is San Diego's oldest building, the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá, founded by Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan monk, on July 16, 1769: There are nine niches in the exterior wall, each having a statue of one of the saints for whom the nine missions were named. Here are two of them:
Indians attacked the Mission early on the morning of November 5, 1775, (some sources say November 4) and virtually destroyed it. Padre Luís Jayme was killed in the attack, making him California's first martyr.
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Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá, more commonly known simply as Mission San Diego, was the first mission founded in California by Father Junipero Serra (1713-1784), who went on to found a total of nine of California's twenty-one missions.
Father Serra returned in 1776 to supervise its reconstruction. Earthquakes in the early 1800s destroyed most of the Mission buildings, but by 1812 the buildings had been rebuilt, but the Mission era basically ended in the mid-1830s, and the Mission and lands were placed under the control of the government in 1835.
At the end of the Mexican-American war in 1848, the United States government took control. On May 23, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln ceded control of the Mission and the surrounding 22 acres back to the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, by that time the Mission itself was in ruins, and it was not restored until 1931.
The oldest building on the grounds is the padres living quarter, which was built in 1774. The original adobe walls and wood beams are still visible.
Bells played an integral part in the life of a Mission. Distinctive tones and patterns indicated mass, work, meals, siestas, danger, funerals, feast days, weddings, and fiestas.
Each of the 21 Missions has a distinctive campanario. The Mission San Diego campanario, at 46 feet tall, is the tallest.
The bell at the lower right (left picture), named Ave Maria Purisma, is a crown-topped bell cast in 1802 and weighing 805 pounds. Crown-topped bells were supplied by the Spanish king and were normally cast at the royal foundry in Barcelona.
There is a small museum that chronicles the history of the Mission through artifacts, documents, and pictures.
There is also an active archaeological dig on the grounds of the Mission. The site is open every Saturday, weather permitting, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Work is performed by volunteers, and the public is welcome to participate. If you would like to volunteer, contact Dr. Jack Williams, 858-693-4926, or espadaancha@yahoo.com/.
Mission San Diego has been an active parish church since February 1941, and Pope Paul VI designated it a Minor Basilica in 1976, indicated by the emblem above the entrance:
Stop by Mission San Diego at 10818 San Diego Mission Road and wander the historic grounds. Enjoy stepping back in time to see where the State of California began. The Visitors Center and Gift Shop are open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. daily. If you'd like to attend mass, here is a complete mass schedule. The church and chapel are open, but when I was there, a wedding rehearsal was taking place in the church, so I didn't get any interior pictures of the church, just the chapel, shown below.
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If you're looking for a great San Diego Realtor, well, I'm available 24/7, so feel free to contact me by phone or email. Jim Frimmer, Realtor ♫♪♫♫♪♫
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