Mission San Juan Capistrano

By David Pearce

San Juan Capistrano is one of the 21 missions on California’s Mission Trail, a 700-mile stretch from San Diego in the south to Sonoma just north of San Francisco. Founded in 1776 by Father Junipero Serra, San Juan Capistrano was the seventh mission to be established in California by the Spanish along El Camino Real, The Royal Road. It was named after crusader Saint John of Capistrano. The great stone church once had seven domes and a bell tower that could be seen ten miles away but it was severely damaged by an 1812 earthquake. The Serra Chapel of 1777 remains the oldest building still in use in California. The mission is also renowned for the return each March of migrating cliff swallows.