U. S. Mission Trail / The Mission Trail Today - The Spanish Missions in California

This site is owned, designed, and operated by Kenneth A. Larson who has over a quarter century of experience in design and construction of scenery for the Entertainment Industry and Theme Parks using Computer Aided and Traditional approaches to Design. Ken also has experience in other areas of Design.

Select photographs of my many visits to The Missions of the United States South and Southwest built by Spain and Mexico between 1565 and 1823.
All photographs taken by Kenneth A. Larson. All rights reserved. © 2008 - 2013.

Back

Main California Page

Main U. S. Page

Previous Mission	By Founding Date	Next Mission
Previous Mission	South to North	Next Mission
	California Main Page/Map

#15, San Juan Bautista

Founded June 24, 1797
by Father Fermin Lasuen.
San Juan Bautista.

Personal Observations

I visited this mission for the first time on July 26, 2003 with my wife and her parents and brother. Mission San Juan Bautista is adjacent to San Jaun Bautista State Historic Park which includes later American constructions. The later buildings include a hotel and livery stable with old wagons and blacksmith equipment. The town of San Juan Bautista is quaint with antique shops and boutiques. While visiting some missions, we spend only an hour or two, we spent most of the afternoon in the town San Jaun Bautista, including the mission, state pank, and shops.

I visited again on a rainy Christmas Day while my wife waited in the car. I had only a few minutes to capture images of the mission in the rain. We have returned several times and attended Mass in July 2009.

The church is about 100 feet from the famous San Andreas Fault with a steep bank leading to the fields below.

Photo-Art
Mission Art & Photo-Art

History

Mission San Juan Bautista was founded on June 24, 1797 by Father Fermin Lasuen only 13 days after the founding of Mission San Jose and a month before founding Mission San Miguel.

The San Juan Bautista Mission church is located about one hundred feet from the San Andreas Fault which tears through most of California and has played havoc on all of the missions during their over two hundred year history. There are many accounts of earthquakes at San Juan Bautista. The entire month of October 1798 was so turbulent that the staff slept outside as earthquakes struck as often as six times a day causing damage to the buildings. With the population increasing, plans were already progressing to build a larger church when an earthquake destroyed the church in 1803. Other earthquakes struck the mission including the famous San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and as recently as 2004.

Following the 1803 earthquake, a new three aisle church was built. Because most churches were long and narrow and this church was wide, there was concern that the church could withstand an earthquake. To strengthen the building, all except the first pair of arches were closed. The interiors were painted by Thomas Doak, a Boston Sailor who jumped ship in Monterey and became the first Anglo-American resident in California. He was not the best artist, but he worked for room and board and his mixed paints still endure today.

The mission was attended by many missionaries. Father Arroyo could preach in seven native dialects and wrote a dictionary of native languages. Father Tapis created a system of color coded music which was easier for the native people to follow.

Following secularization in 1835, the church continued serving as a parish. The church suffered some damage from the 1906 earthquake but was repaired. A new bell tower was built, but not in the mission style. In 1949, the Hearst Foundation financed the restoration which returned the mission to it's original appearance.

more pending

Address and Directions

2nd & Mariposa Sts.
San Juan Bautista, CA 95045-1164

Mailing Address:
PO Box 1164
San Juan Bautista, CA 95045-1164

Exit US Highway 101 at California State Highway 156 (Hollister). After about two miles, left at the sign then make an immediate right onto Muchelemi Street. Follow into town. When the street ends, turn right on Second Street. The mission is on the left. San Juan Bautista is a few miles off Highway 101 about ten miles south of Gilroy. An El Camino Real Bell can be found at Monterey Street and Third Street where there is also a small museum.

Photography Gallery

Chapel and bell tower. 7-26-03.

Main church. Only 3 aisle mission church. 7-26-03.

Mission San Juan Bautista. 7-26-03.

Mission Church and Statue. Photo date: 12-25-03.

Mission.

Bell Tower. Photo date: 5-29-04.

Photo date: 5-29-04.

Bell tower from cemetery.

Chapel and bell tower. There is a story that Alfred Hitchcock came to this mission to use the bell tower for his Motion Picture Vertigo. When he arrived, he discovered that the second bell tower of which he had seen photos, had been replaced by a restoration of the original bell tower. He then had a bell tower constructed back in Hollywood. 7-26-03.

Stairway to bell tower. 7-26-03.


Church.

Back side of bell tower. Photo date: 5-29-04.


Church from below, near the San Andreas Fault.

Buttress. 7-26-03.

Loking back.

Loft.

Baptismal.


Altar.

Pulpit.

Stair to pulpit in side aisle.

Side altar.

Prayer candles in Main Chapel. 7-26-03.

Stations of the cross in Main Chapel. 7-26-03.

Church interior. Photo date: 5-29-04.

Statue. Photo date: 5-29-04.

Smaller chapel. 7-26-03.

Light fixture. 7-26-03.

This window design in common to several missions. See a similar door at San Fernando Rey de España Mission. This is in the smaller chapel. 7-26-03.

Entrance to Mission San Juan Bautista and Colonnade. 7-26-03.

Colonnade. Photo date: 5-29-04.


Colonnade, one side of the Quadrangle. Photo date: 12-25-03.

Mission bell in the garden. 7-26-03.

Garden. 7-26-03.


Small bell on a frame in the garden in the Quadrangle.


A small metal framed gazebo in the garden in the Quadrangle.


Statues in the garden in the Quadrangle.

Corbel. 7-26-03.

Mission from a distance from northeast. Photo date: 5-29-04.

Mission through trees from east. Photo date: 5-29-04.

Mission from a distance from east. Photo date: 5-29-04.

Retaining wall northeast of Mission Church. Photo date: 5-29-04.

links here

Sources:

Back

Main California Page

Main U. S. Page

Previous Mission	By Founding Date	Next Mission
Previous Mission	South to North	Next Mission
	California Main Page/Map

Note:This is not the official site for any of the places shown in US Mission Trail. US Mission Trail is not responsible for accuracy of the information. Hours of operations, prices, and exhibits are subject to change without notice.

Support this Web Site This web site was created because of my love and respect for the California Missions. This web site is for your benefit and I make no profit on it. I don't allow paid advertising. This site is supported primarily from my regular paycheck as a Set Designer and there haven't been many this year. I sell art at www.klimages.com. A non-tax deductable donation to help cover the cost of operating this web site may be made to Kesign Design Consulting through PayPal ...
	Or donations can be mailed to the address on the contact page.	Buy my art.

This site maintained by Kenneth A. Larson.
Copyright © 2004 - 2013, Kenneth A. Larson. All Rights Reserved.
Website content including photographic and graphic images may not be redistributed for use on another website.

This site is a non-commercial alternative to my commercial design portfolio site. This site's only purpose is for your enjoyment. There is no advertising and I make no profit. If you are in the need of a designer, please check my commercial site www.kesigndesign.com.

Links

Home | Contact | Sales | Ken Larson | K L Images

Other Links
Contact | Ken Larson | K L Images | Mission Trail Today | Places Earth

Web Design and content by Kenneth A. Larson