Last stop for today is at San Juan de Capistrano mission, one of the earliest missions in the California region. It was founded in 1776 by the Franciscan order and had a tumultous history afterwards. Today even though mostly in ruins it is still officially owned by the Catholic Church and a major attraction in the area. In fact it takes a while to even find a parking spot and then it is a short walk towards the entrance.
Luckily there is no line to buy tickets when we enter, when we passed by car earlier and also when we exit there are quite long lines at the ticket office. Soon we are in in a tranquil garden and we get our bearings using the map provided and on we go.
We start with the Soldier Barracks which are well maintained and quite scenic with a long covered patio that helps us avoid the direct sunlight.
Inside are a few exhibits related to the life of soldiers that were protecting the mission and a room full of beautiful artwork which is more recent compared to the rest of the exhibits.
We then explore the gardens for a while before entering the next building/museum area. Here the exhibits are focused on a couple of benefactors and are in a chapel-style room. Surprisingly as we read more carefully we learn that the sunken area in front of the altar was actually used to crush grapes for wine….not really what we thougt when seeing the altar.
We go outside and round the building the find the exit wine vat from the interior room. Here is where the grape juice was accumulating and becoming wine according to our understanding.
Next is the industrial area where the smithy and the tannery as well as the garden were located.
Now it is time to climb back to the interior courtyard and explore another side of the square courtyard. There are no museum exhibits here but there are a few welcome toilets.
This area is also more tranquil and we see a few birds including hummingbirds but our eyes are drawn by the beautiful water feature in the middle of the garden, the lotus flowers are mesmerizing.
The whole fountain is actually quite impressive and the centerpiece of the garden where all the visitors are congregating. We enjoy the views and the garden and relax for a while before moving on.
Next is the Serra Chapel, the most historic part of the complex dating back to 1780. After the Stone Church was destroyed it started to be re-used for mass and religious services. Even today there are nuns inside and people praying, not what we expected really.
The altar is richly decorated and we like the ceiling which is quite beautiful. We explore the church in detail for a while and then it is time to exit via the second door that leads us to the cemetery.
The cemetery is relatively sparse with only two headstones that we can see including the one of St John O’Sullivan who worked tirelessly to preserve the property. And there are also squirrels and crows who enjoy this piece of greenery in the middle of the city.
Next we enter the sacred garden with the iconic four bells. We are by a miracle the only people here so we can take photos and enjoy this scenic location.
The majority of the people, we find out, are on the other side of the wall exploring the Great Stone Church Ruins. Here an earthquake reduced the ambitious church to ruins during Sunday Mass blocking also the doors to the church and killing 42 worshipers. After that the Great Stone Church was not rebuilt and the Serra’s Chapel started to be reused.
In fact the mission had quite a colorful history including also a pirate sack in 1818 by a French privateer. We continue exploring the ruins and admire the bells also from this side, the more popular side for certain.
There is one more small museum to visit dedicated to Saint Serra and showing how the priests lived during the heyday of the church before moving on as it is getting late in the day.
However before leaving San Juan de Capistrano city we want to see the new basilica supposedly built to look similar to the Great Stone Church. It is about 15 minutes walk from the mission entrance and allows us some nice views of both old and new churches.
The new church is actually quite impressive and we are happy that we made the extra effort to see how it might have looked in the 1800s.
We try to also enter the church however people are attending mass inside and we do not want to disturb so we exit and return to the car five minutes before our prepaid parking expired.
And then it is time for the long six hour drive home made almost without stops. This is because we want to arrive as early as possible as our relative still has to pack for their flight home the next day. Overall we enjoyed the sights of this area of California however it is quite built up and the traffic is horrendous on most days so it is not a place where we would want to live for certain.
