Capture California, the Game-2012
Adventure: 101 - 10 : Mission
San Luis Rey de Francia, 18th
mission
Team: Thing One, Thing Two
Date: August 13, 2012
Location: Oceanside
Description:
When we got to this mission, the
interior was closed already and the parking lot and grounds would be
closing in awhile. Still as we looked around, you got the image of
what a fully restored mission should look like. Then you start
wondering how the people in the late 1700's and early 1800's could
construct such a magnificent building as this? Unfortunately, we
could not stay and ponder more as one of the nun's was wondering what
we were doing there. So we left.
From
Wikipedia's site:
The original name, La
Misión de San Luis, Rey de Francia
(The Mission of Saint Louis, King of France) was named for King Louis
IX of France.[1][2]
It's 'nickname' was "King of the Missions
California
Mission Resource Center:
Prominent Missionary Leaders: Father
Peyrí, who led the mission for thirty-six years. Father Peyrí was
not only an energetic leader with a genial disposition, he was a
talented architect and builder. When the beloved padre was forced to
leave after the Mexican takeover of California, hundreds of neophytes
followed him to San Diego, begging him to return
Special Attraction: The
sunken garden and lavanderia (laundry), located in a hollow to the
south of the mission may be reached by descending 46 fire tiled
steps. Two springs provided water that sprouted from the mouths of
sculpted gargoyles into the lavanderia.
Interesting Facts: The
mission was the site for several episodes of the Walt Disney T.V.
series Zorro in the 1950s.
From California State
Parks site:
Known as the King of the Missions, San
Luis Rey de Francia lies in a sheltered valley just east of Oceanside
on State Highway 76. Named for Louis IX, the crusading King of
France, the cross-shaped church was dedicated on the Feast of St.
Anthony in 1798 by Father Lasuen. Architecturally the most graceful
of California's missions, it has been restored according to the
original plans and designs. Today the mission gardens include a fruit
orchard where California's first pepper tree still grows. The church,
which seats 1,000, is adjacent to a six-acre enclosed central square
that includes a sunken garden, elaborate stone terrace and octagonal
mortuary chapel.
4050 Mission Ave., San Luis
Rey, 92068, (760) 757-3651