Mission San Miguel

From our campground in Paso Robles (CA), we headed north on Highway 101 to the town of San Miguel and its mission.

In 1797, Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen founded the Mission San Miguel Arcángel. This was the 16th of California's 21 missions and, in line with the basis for the selection of the sites for missions, was located one day's journey from missions to the north (San Antonio) and south (San Luis Obispo) along the El Camino Real.

Passing through the entrance just off the highway is a courtyard with this statue of Fr. Junipero Serra.













This fountain in the quadrangle is fed by a well that is still in use.





Here an old cart occupied a place in the courtyard.







This cross occupied another space in the courtyard.







The first chapel had to be replaced in a year's time by a larger adobe church. Many of the the church buildings were destroyed in the 1806 earthquake, but in a year's time, the mission was functioning again.

In 1878, after 38 years without a resident priest, Rev. Farrelly took up residence at the mission and made various repairs to the church and mission buildings.













Walking around the buildings provided the opportunity to catch the relationship of light with the buildings.

On December 22nd, 2006 at 11:15:56 am--the same day and time of the San Simeon Earthquake (the epicenter of which was just 35 miles away from the Mission) three years prior, the repairs to the buildings had been completed and the Mission re-opened.

This was one of our favorite missions, because the pictures and colors are the originals that were created and painted by Indian artisans under the direction of Esteban Munras. The inside of the church has never been repainted.

The Mission stands as one of California's best-preserved and most authentic reminders of the past.

[Unfortnately, photos of the artwork in the Mission are on a defective chip, so we cannot access them.]