By way of history: the missions were established to bring Christianity (Catholicism) to the natives. They were outposts on the frontier that included a church, gardens, cemeteries, grazing areas for animals, granaries, monateries, and housing for workers, etc. In short, they were somewhat self-contained and self-supporting. The missions in California were Spanish. Buildings have all of the traditional trappings of Spanish architecture, from tiled roofs to arches, built of adobe bricks and stucco, with wood trimmings. The missions were small villages around which towns grew up. The town of San Juan Bautista takes its name from the mission and probably wouldn't exist without it.
We parked on the street of San Juan Bautista near the mission. The first sound we heard was the crowing of roosters. People had chickens in their yards!
Some observations and highlights of the day:
1. The mission looked exactly as I had pictured an old Spanish mission in my mind. Not only is this one old, it even LOOKS old. The floors are wooden planks except in the church sanctuary where the floors are like cobblestone tiles.
2. The mission of San Juan Bautista (SJB) was established in 1797 and was never abandoned. Mass has been held there every day for 213 years!
2. SJB Mission was built mere yards from the San Andreas Fault! I practically stood on the fault, myself. Through the centuries, earthquakes have damaged the mission but not destroyed it.
3. Just a few yards below the fault is the only remaining piece of the original mission road, El Camino Real, that linked missions through 600 miles of California. It's not much more than a path!
4. Every Sunday at 3:00 PM, a full mass is celebrated in Latin at SJB. We were there when that began. A woman in traditional headcovering closed the door to the sanctuary while someone rang the mission bells calling the faithful to worship. I'm not sure why, but hearing those bells made me weep. (Why am I such a sentimental slob these days??)
5. The mission cemetery, which is directly outside the doors of the sanctuary, is quite small...but the brochure says there are over 4,000 burials there. There are only a few wooden crosses. Hope the church has records of who is buried because otherwise, no one would know!
6. After mass was over, we slipped into the sanctuary to see it. It is the only place in the mission that seems to have been kept up in terms of paint and decoration.
7. There is a certain amount of reverence involved in touring a place of that age and purpose. In addition to being a significant historical landmark, it is also a place of worship--the parish church for the Catholic residents of SJB, California.
8. The garden had orange trees with fruit on them, huge cactus plants, blooming rose bushes, chickens scratching in the dirt. It wasn't a polished place. It looked like an old mission!
After we saw everything that we wanted to see, we went back to the tiny gift store where I bought a couple of rosaries for my grandchildren. I should have hailed the priest to bless them when I could, but he got away from me. (Interesting, the priest isn't Spanish at all. He's Irish. Father Fitz-Henry, to be exact. He must speak Spanish, though, because at least one of the masses is in Spanish.)
We walked a block away from the mission to the business district. There were a couple of bars that were rocking with Superbowl spectators. We stopped at an ice cream shop and treated ourselves. If we'd had more time, I would have liked to explore the town a little more. I seemed very quaint!
We stopped at a Walmart on the way back, then ate supper at an Applebee's. It was a very interesting day for me...and I'm sure loving the warm weather and sunshine!
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