San Juan Capistrano Mission

We finally got to this mission! It's only down the road, and of course that's why we left it on the long finger.
There was a pilgrim route called the Camino Real (Royal Way) down along the west coast of California. No wonder so many places are called San or Santa Something-or-Other ... Besides, Spanish must have been the vernacular here before English.
The pilgrims would stay at the missions as they roamed the Camino. What makes Capistrano most notable is that it has the oldest standing chapel, actually the oldest building in California. And the founder of the missions Padre Serra said Mass here in 1776. The mission was founded by a priest who came from Mallorca, with the intention of converting the natives. So there's a blend of European and Native American decor about the place.

The gardens are beautiful, with the main cloister area containing a fountain dedicated to the Four Evangelists. And guess who commissioned that fountain, and also spearheaded much of the retoration? One Fr. John O'Sullivan, who was head of the monastery from 1910 - 1933. He's also credited with bringing the famous swallows to the monastery. You can read the story in one of the photos that follow. Pat Boone recorded the famous song in 1939, and it became very popular among US soldiers in WWII.

And the band played "Believe it if you like"!!

I tried to photograph the nests but they were in total shade under the eaves!! As for the swallows - they were off about their business. Need to come back at sunset to see them!
The audio guide had snippets of memories from a local Native American who lived here in the 1950s, such as the Christmas Eve custom of following Mary & Joseph from door to door until finally the doors of the church were flung open to welcome them.
There was an earthquake in 1812 that destroyed much of the mission, but what remians gives a good idea of how it must have been.

The bells are famous too. The local man told of the different sounds signifying different messages. The heavy bell was rung to announce the death of a man, the smallest to announce the death of a child. And when a particularly saintly young girl died, the bells rang without anyone pulling them, after her funeral. The people believed it was the angels welcoming her to Heaven ringing the bells. You can believe what you like.

Just a really beautiful, serene place!

There was a garrison of 11 soldiers there, who were never very busy - until the mission was overrun by pirates in the 19th century! It's a bit of a museum too:

Carving beside a soldier's bed.