Adventure 49/101, Mission 13 - Mission Santa Barbara

Capture California, the Game-2012

Adventure: 101 - 13 : Mission Santa Barbara, 10th mission

Team: Thing One, Thing Two

Date:  August 16, 2012

Location: Santa Barbara

Description:

Mission Santa Barbara has a beautiful view. You climb up the roads off of Highway 101, about a mile and a half. So when you get to the mission on Laguna St, you are sort of wondering when will you get there. Even with a closing time of 6pm, there was many visitor's still wandering around the premise and the parking lot was still open. So we felt very comfortable looking around the mission-but we were not able to go inside. So we climbed the steps and felt the immenseness of the chapel. We wandered the halls and felt the size. Also, the view, shows all of Santa Barbara all the way down to the ocean.

(The Father Narciso Duran is not any known relationship to us, but it is nice to dream.)

From Wikipedia site:

Many elements of the Mission's extensive water treatment system, all built by Chumash Indians' labor (including aqueducts, two reservoirs, and a filter house) remain to this day, as does a grain mill; the larger reservoir, which was built in 1806 by the expedient of damming a canyon, has been incorporated into the City's water system. The original fountain and lavadero are also intact near the entrance to the Mission. A dam constructed in 1807 is situated in the current Santa Barbara Botanic Garden up "Mission Canyon."

After the Mexican Congress passed An Act for the Secularization of the Missions of California on August 17, 1833 Father Presidente Narciso Durán transferred the missions' headquarters to Santa Barbara, thereby making Mission Santa Barbara the repository of some 3,000 original documents that had been scattered through the California missions. The Mission archive is the oldest library in the State of California that still remains in the hands of its founders, the Franciscans. Beginning with the writings of Hubert Howe Bancroft, the library has served as a center for historical study of the missions for more than a century.

Under Bishop Thaddeus Amat y Brusi, C.M., the chapel again served as a pro-cathedral, for the Diocese of Monterey and then the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles, from 1853 to 1876. It is for this reason that of all the California missions, only the chapel at Mission Santa Barbara has two matching bell towers. At that time, that particular architectural feature was restricted to a cathedral church.

From California Missions Resource Center site:
Prominent Missionary Leaders: Fr. Narciso Durán, who was elected Father President of the missions in 1825 and again in 1830, made Santa Barbara the chain's headquarters from 1833 to 1846.
Water Source: Water was channeled from a dam constructed in Pedragoso Creek, high above the mission. A two-mile long stone aqueduct carried water to a storage reservoir, feeder reservoir and settling tank constructed in 1806 and attributed to Indian mason Miguel Blanco of Baja California. A second aqueduct carried drinking water to the mission, its fountains and lavanderia washing facilities.
Mission Art: The mission church is filled with original and noteworthy paintings and statues, including a unique abalone-encrusted Chumash altar dated to the 1790s. The two largest religious paintings in all of the missions are at Santa Barbara. One painting, 168" high by 103" wide, depicts the "Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin." It is thought to have originated in the Mexico City studio of Miguel Mateo Maldonado y Cabrera (1695-1768) and was acquired by the mission in1798. "The Crucifixion" (168" by 126") is not attributed to a specific artist.
Special Attraction: The beautiful Moorish fountain located in front of the monastery wing, to the left of the church, was sculpted by mason and carpenter José Antonio Ramírez in 1808.

Interesting Facts: 

Under Fr. Narciso Durán the mission became the major record depository for the mission chain, a role that continues to this day.
Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno, the first Catholic Bishop of California, resided at this mission from 1842 to 1846.
Santa Barbara is the only mission continuously operated by the Franciscans since its founding.
An Apostolic College or missionary center for California functioned at the mission from 1856 to1885, a Junior Franciscan Seminary from 1886 to1901, and St. Anthony's Seminary from 1900 to 1987.
Juana Mariá, the Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island portrayed in Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins was buried in the mission cemetery in 1853.

From California State Parks site:

Founded in 1786, the "Queen of the Missions" was the first to be christened by Father Lasuen, and has continuously served as a parish church for the local population since its founding. The church was destroyed in 1925 by earthquake; however, restorations have returned it to its original grandeur of wrought iron, terra cotta and carved wood. Patterned after an ancient Latin chapel in pre-Christian Rome, its twin bell towers and Doric facade present an imposing impression of strength. Located on a hilltop overlooking the city, the mission provides a spectacular view of the ocean. The museum contains a vast store of historical material and displays many original items.
2201 Laguna St., Santa Barbara, 93105, (805) 682-4713