Adventure 49/101, Mission 09 - Mission San Juan Capistrano

Capture California, the Game-2012

Adventure: 49/101 - 09 : Mission San Juan Capistrano, 7^th mission

Team: Thing One, Thing Two

Date:  August 13, 2012

Location: San Juan Capistrano

Description:

We got to this mission around 4:45. With admission being $9 a person, we decided to forgo going inside and see what we could from walking around the mission walls. This is the most famous California mission—both from movies, music and the folk-lore of the Swallows returning to Capistrano. It is in the middle of a major restoration project, so there is the noise of workers building a new entrance area.

Even though the entrance is high, we are still able to see parts of the Old Great Stone Church , along with the soldier barracks and the walls surrounding the mission—it does help to be over 6' tall. We walk the full city block, admiring what we can see and also seeing the new church—the one with the basilica. But today we need to be making our way down to San Diego for the rest of our journey, so we only look around for half an hour.

From Wikipedia site:

San Juan Capistrano has the distinction of being home to the oldest building in California still in use, a chapel built in 1782; known alternately as "Serra's Chapel" and "Father Serra's Church," it is the only extant structure where it has been documented that the padre Junipero Serra celebrated mass.

The Criolla or "Mission grape," was first planted at San Juan Capistrano in 1779; in 1783, the first wine produced in Alta California emerged from the Mission's winery.

Mission San Juan Capistrano has served as a favorite subject for many notable artists, and has been immortalized in literature and on film numerous times, perhaps more than any other mission.

Legends

The tragedy of "The Great Stone Church" gave rise to its best-loved legend, that of a young native girl named Magdalena who was killed in the collapse. Magdalena lived on the Mission grounds and had fallen in love with an artist named Teófilo. However, the pair was deemed too young to marry by their elders and were forced to carry on their relationship in secret. On that fateful December morning, the repentant Magdalena walked ahead of the procession of worshipers carrying a penitent's candle just as the earthquake struck. Teófilo rushed into the church as the walls and roof tumbled to the ground in a vain attempt to save his lover. When the rubble was cleared the pair was found among the dead, locked in a final embrace. It is said that on moonlit nights one can sometimes make out the face of a young girl, seemingly illuminated by candlelight, high up in the ruins. Other, less-pervasive legends include that of a faceless monk who haunted the corridors of the original quadrangle, and of a headless soldier who was often seen standing guard near the front entrance.

From California Missions Resource Center site:

Water Source: Three streams, the Trabuco, Horno and San Juan, converged at the mission.

Mission Church: In 1778, two years after the mission was moved to the present site, a small adobe chapel was built, and soon replaced by the Serra Chapel in 1782. This is the only remaining church in which Fr. Serra held mass. In order to accommodate the mission's growing population, the Great Stone Church was constructed between 1797 - 1806. This cathedral-like building was 180 feet long by 40 feet wide, and had a high-vaulted ceiling surmounted by seven domes fronted by a 120 foot tall bell tower. In December, 1812 a massive earthquake destroyed the Great Stone Church, killing 40 neophytes.

Mission Art: The reredos and altar of Serra's Chapel are made of cherry wood and covered with gold leaf. They originated in Barcelona, Spain and are about three hundred years old. The altar is adorned with fifty-two angels faces, one for every Sunday of the year.

Interesting Facts: 

Cliff Swallows (Las Golondrínas) return to mission from their wintering grounds 2000 miles away on or about each March 19 (St. Joseph's Day). The return of the swallows is celebrated in Leon Rene’s famous song "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano."
San Juan Capistrano was actually founded twice. Construction had begun in 1775 when news of the Indian attack on the San Diego mission forced the padres to stop construction and delay the founding until late 1776.
Richard Dana described the brisk trade in hides and tallow at the San Juan Capistrano in his coming-of-age book Two Years Before the Mast.

From California State Parks site:

Named for Crusader Saint John of Capistrano and designed in the shape of a cross, the great stone church once held seven domes and a bell tower so tall it could be seen from ten miles away. Severely damaged by an 1812 earthquake, the ruins are currently being preserved by archaeologists and engineers. Ivy covers the broken walls, willows sway over the fountain in the quadrangle and orange Birds of Paradise grace the mission gardens. A gilded altarpiece illuminates the Serra Chapel of 1777, the oldest building still in use in California and the only surviving church where Father Serra said mass. Each year on St. Joseph's Day, March 19, the mission celebrates the return of the cliff swallows from Argentina with a traditional Mexican fiesta.
 Ortega Hwy. at Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, 92693, (949) 248-2049