Mission San Juan Capistrano

  Mission San Juan Capistrano 

9/27/2023

 Mission San Juan Capistrano * 

Also call “the jewel of missions” a historical landmark of Southern California

Mission California 最初建立的意义是为了帮助西班牙僧侣传播天主教，但其意义不止于此

        首先，21个Mission California相连接，形成了加州最重要的交通路线，这些道路至今仍是当地的主干道 -  https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1293626 

*The mission was founded in 1776, by the Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order. Named for Saint John of Capistrano, a 14th-century theologian and "warrior priest" who resided in the Abruzzo region of Italy, San Juan Capistrano has the distinction of being home to the oldest building in California still in use, a chapel built in 1782. "Father Serra's Church", also known as "Serra's Chapel", is the only extant structure where it has been documented that Junipero Serra celebrated  Mass…..Wikipedia 

由一棟建築走到另一棟  拱形門廊各具特色裝飾圖案  在時光流轉中有些已破敗或經多番修補及重建  整體面貌盡可能保留舊時風貌

Entrance gate to the Bell Wall

Closeup of the Bell Wall

The exquisitely decorated interior of the chapel 

長長的磚砌廊道古色古香

映照出兩百多年前的風華

       Couple of hundred years old corridors                                                                                          

Ruins of the Great Stone Church

 

Upon entering the entrance way, an elegant lotus pond with colorful coi fish situated nicely to greet visitors. 

Beautiful landscapes connecting separate structures are mostly with indigenous plants including a variety of cacti and succulents

 

As night was drawing near, watching from hotel window when darkness began to envelop the sky and the surrounding area turned into blurry patches of shadows except the highway across from our place.  A stretch of light appeared which moving ever so slowly under the night sky like a river flowing quietly continuously.

What an interesting contrast between day and night in this little town nestled in the huge sprawl of metropolitan LA area!

Collage of Day and night scenes 

LA, California, 2023

Grace