Friday, November 18, 2011

Old Mission Santa Barbara, California



During our recent visit to California, my husband and I were so captivated by the beauty of the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, which you can read about on this link, that we decided to visit  a few more missions along the path of our Pacific Highway coastal trip to San Francisco. The Mission of Santa Barbara is located at 2201 Laguna Street, was founded in Founded  on the Feast of St. Barbara, December 4, 1786, and is known as the "Queen of the Missions."   It was the first to be christened by Father Fermin Lasuen, and has continuously served as a parish church for the local population since its founding.



Santa Barbara was the tenth of twenty-one California Missions to be founded by the Spanish Franciscans. The original church was destroyed in 1925 by earthquake, but restorations have returned it to its original grandeur, and its twin bell towers and Doric facade present an imposing impression of strength.




The interior of the church is impressive.  Its walls are full of beautiful religious themed paintings.



Some of the artwork and statues inside the Mission Santa Barbara Church.



A tribute statue to Father Junipero Serra, who had founded the first nine Missions, and had died 2 years before Mission Santa Barbara was founded. Notice the "El Camino Real, " or The Royal Highway, bell marker behind the statue.  The missions were placed a day's walk from each other, about thirty miles apart. The entire span of missions along the El Camino Real is 650 miles, mainly along the present Highway 101.  In the1920s bronze mission bells were placed along the highway to let motorists know they were traveling the historic El Camino Real, although almost all of them no longer contain signs that indicate the distance to the next Mission, as this one does.



The beautiful fountain in front of the Mission was built in 1808.



When the Mission period was over, the buildings were used for a number of purposes, such as a high school, a junior college, a seminary, and the Mission church today is used by the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Barbara.


The Mission occupies over 10 acres of beautifully manicured gardens, and also houses a museum.



Some of the beautiful pink roses in bloom in the Mission garden.




Just look at the size of this grape vine remnant from the year 1800!




Some of the interesting artifacts inside the Mission's museum.




The small carving above this door tell you that you are now entering the Mission cemetery.




Santa Barbara's culturally diverse early settlers are buried here as well as approximately 4,000 Indians, including Joana Maria, the abandoned woman of San Nicolas island. Her life is portrayed in the book "Island of the Blue Dolphins." She was buried here in 1853 but the exact location of her grave is not known.



Another interesting sight in the cemetery was a large  Moreton Bay Fig Tree that was planted around 1890.



After our visit to the Mission of Santa Barbara we headed back onto the road, but this time we were taking a slight detour inland off the Pacific Coast Highway towards the Saint Inez Mountains to stay in a town that recommended by one of my husband's co-workers. I'm sure you will want to return to my blog to see it in my next post,  as you will find it absolutely delightful!

I am linking this post to:

"Pink Saturday" on Beverly's blog How Sweet The Sound
"Spiritual Sunday" on the Spiritual Sunday blog
"Seasonal Sundays" on The Tablescaper blog

Many thanks to all the blog hosts!
Pam of the blog "Abiding in Love" is doing a My Memories Digital Scrapbook give away and asked me to spread the news! If you remember, I did a give away of this wonderful software a short time ago and I have been enjoying using it to make pages of my grandson's photos. Please visit Pam's blog and leave a comment to have another chance to win this wonderful software.



If you can't wait to win,  you can go to the My Memories web site and order this voted  #1 digital scrapbook software no.  If you enter this code STMMMS34516 at check out, you will receive $10 off the price! It's a wonderful opportunity to finally scrap all those wonderful photos you have in your computer files.



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39 comments:

Yvette said...

Again, you've made me feel as if I'm traveling with you and hubby. So if in your travels now and again you feel a slight presence - that would be me. :)

Another beautiful mission and that California scenery....!!

Thanks so much for sharing, Pat.

pam said...

Wow...love this post. I love Santa Barbara. That church is so cool and I enjoyed seeing the museum pictures. I think my favorite picture is the rose in the bottom right of your collage. That is beautiful. Can't wait to see where you landed next. I'm imagining my favorite little towns around that area.

Charlotte said...

Hi Mille. I'm so glad you discovered Spiritual Sundays and chose to share with us. Love all the beautiful photos and info about the missions. I first visited San Juan Capistrano mission when I was in the 4th grade. It was on a field trip and it was way back in the 1940s. All the children in California studied the missions in the 4th grade at that time. They still did in the 60s. I don't know if they still do. Since that time I have visited a lot of the other missions in CA.
Thank you for sharing.
Blessings,
Charlotte

C'est moi Claudette said...

WOW. What beauty and I LOVE the church. I spend a lot of time with a nun who is my cousin. She is my ROCK.
What a beautiful adventure Mille.
We drove through Santa Barbara a long time ago. I missed all this ; (
BTW. I believe it was you who posted a while back about the Eataly in Soho. We were there!! It was FANTASTIC. Thank you.
Love Claudie from Canada
xoxoxxo

Claudia said...

It reminds me of the small missions I saw in New Mexico. Such heart went into these places. The grapevine - wow - imagine trying to pull that! And the fig tree from 1890 - makes me wistful for all that it has seen.

Anonymous said...

Glorious...enjoying adventures with you and hubby!

Jeannelle said...

Thanks for the wonderful tour!

Old Kitty said...

Oh I just read the wiki link about Juana Maria and the book based on her story. It's so sad! Poor Juana! The last of her kind and not having anyone to speak to because noone knows her language. That's so sad. Awwwww! :-( I must admit to not knowing about the book but at least in the book he heroine has a doggy for company!

Oh I love the fig tree! Isn't that the biggest fig tree ever (well, ok maybe not but here it's bIG!!)and old!! So glad it's still going strong!

I love that the church is shimmering a very subtle shade of pink! Gorgeous!

Thanks for a most beautiful excursion into this richly historic site! Take care x

Pondside said...

How beautiful. When we visited Santa Barbara we didn't make it to the Mission, so I enjoyed this little visit!

Kris said...

Absolutely beautiful!!!

Vee said...

Your travels are so much fun for all of us. Thank you for tucking us into your pocket once again. I see things that I'll never have the opportunity to see otherwise. Are you going to be showing photos of your more recent trip? Now that I do get to see.

ellen b. said...

Thanks for taking me along with you on your trip. I so enjoy seeing these familiar spots through your lens! Have a wonderful weekend.

GailO said...

Absolutely wonderful Pat! I can't wait to see what comes next:)

Ciao Chow Linda said...

You got some really nice photos of a beautiful mission Pat. I visited the mission last time I was in S.B. and my friend was married there.

Tanna said...

LOVED seeing all these photos. SO many, many beautiful things to see!! I think my favorite thing is that ancient fig tree! Wow! Can't wait to see the sidetrip!! blessings ~ Tanna

A Bit of the Blarney said...

Beautiful pictures. I remember the first time we stopped there to see the Mission Church. We were in the Army stationed at Ft. Ord and were on our way to visit family in LA. Thanks for the memories!! Cathy

LV said...

Truly enjoyed my trip with you down the mission trail.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Simply gorgeous!

My PINK, have a great weekend!

J.Rylie.C said...

Very pretty! I really love Saturday because my Mom let me blog a little for Pink Saturday.

Here's my pink share, have a nice weekend!

Ginny Hartzler said...

All beautiful pictures, what a wonderful place this would be to visit. I love the tree, and it looks like some of the trim and the pillars are pink!!! Strange for a mission? But lovely nonetheless.

diane b said...

Thank you for taking me along on this great road trip. The Spanish missions are very interesting and living museums. I was surprised to come across one in the desert of Western Australia.

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

What a lovely place. Very peaceful Pat. I could stay all day and soak in the peacefulness and beauty.
Sam

Carol said...

What a beautiful, serene place! Stunning pictures, Pat! I love that grape vine!

Sheila said...

The Santa Barbara Mission is certainly a lovely place to visit I am amazed by the size of the grapevine and the fig tree. Your photos take us to places that are fascinating and I enjoy each journey we take with you Pat!

Anonymous said...

Hi Vivacious Pat!

I LOVE that church interior--outstanding.... and I have seen a lot of them....

Happy Spiritual Sunday!

love, kelee katillac

Pat said...

Beautiful photos! Love Santa Barbara Mission and the Santa Inez region... happy memories from my travels there.

betsy said...

A great post. The photos were sublime.

Judie said...

Pat, we have a mission here in Tucson, San Xavier del Bac, that was founded by Father Kino in 1692, and is known as "The White Dove of the desert."

If you would like to see some photos, and read the history, here is the website: http://www.sanxaviermission.org/

Better yet, make a trip to Tucson, and we will be glad to show it to you!!!

nanny said...

Thanks for the tour....it was wonderful. I can't believe the size of that grapevine.

How do you get the share button at end of post? Just one click and it goes to twitter?

Cindy said...

How beautiful, you must have had such a fabulous time driving the Pacific Hwy. The old missions are so lovely, such wonderful architecture.
Hugs, Cindy

Willow said...

I love this posts. I'm seeing my every day travels through your eyes. Santa Barbara Mission is truly a beauty.

Marlis said...

That is a beautiful mission indeed. Santa Barbara isn't soo bad either.. thank you so much for sharing your beautiful photos with us.. Happy Thanksgivings.xo marlis

Sonia said...

Oh I love your post! My hubbie is from CA and we used to live there as well and now are in OKC but travel out there as often as we can. In February we will be in San Luis Obispo/Pismo Beach Love the area near Santa Barbara and looking forward to your next post! Your pictures are beautiful and loved learning about the missions. I've been to the one in Carmel.
Miss Bloomers

Jojo said...

I was enjoying your post immensely and then really perked up when you added Island of the Blue Dolphin! That was my favorite book as a child and I remember it coming out as a film too? In fact, I just downloaded it so that I could read it as an adult! I had no idea that the story was based on a real person!!

❀~Myrna~❀ said...

I enjoyed your wonderful tour!The Island of the blue Dolphins is a favorite book, It was interesting to see where the real character was buried . Happy Thanksgiving ! Blessings.

Pamela said...

Nothing like a guided tour! This is beautiful and I loved learning some more about it. Don't you just love traveling and seeing the beauty of God's earth and the beauty that God's people have made? Thank you so much for sharing and for using so many pictures to make it come alive for those of us sitting at home.

Ruth said...

Looks like a beautiful place! I'm in awe of how God gives gifts to men to build and design places like this to stand as monument to His greatness. Thanks for allowing us to be part of your trip.

The Tablescaper said...

What a wonderful visit. Thanks for taking us on the virtual tour.

- The Tablescaper

Houseelf said...

What a beautiful place to visit. I'm now looking up more info on the abandoned lady.