San Gabriel - Mission San Gabriel Arcangel

History

This mission's church, which still serves as such today, was built by the Franciscan Antonio Cruzado in 1806, using as a model the Moorish cathedral at Cordoba, with some notable modifications. The bell-tower fell victim to an earthquake in 1812 but the church remained standing. North America's first grape-vines were cultivated on its land and, although others followed its example, San Gabriel's area of cultivation remained the biggest and its mission the most prosperous. Serra had brought some cuttings from Spanish vines with him in 1769 so as not to be dependent on imports from Spain.

At the San Gabriel mission, where some 1000 Indians - called Neophytes - lived and worked, soap, leather and tallow were produced as well as barley, maize, beans, peas and lentils. More than 2,000 orange, lemon, fig, apple, peach and pear trees were planted.

Places of interest

The museum with its parchment scrolls and old and valuable books going back to the 15th century is well worth a visit. On the mission land is a cemetery where more than 6,000 Indians are buried, mainly victims of epidemics. At the beginning of the 19th century about 100,000 of North America's 900,000 Indians must have lived in California.