SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO (Day 14 - part 5)

The bell wall from the other side (the two largest bells are replicas)

(right) A statue of Father Serra

Ruins of the Great Stone Church

Work began in 1797. This was the only chapel building in Alta California not constructed out of adobe. It was 180 feet long, 40 feet wide and had 50-foot high walls. It also had a 120-foot tall bell tower. Its sandstone foundation was seven feet thick. Stones were quarried from up to six miles away and transported in ox carts, carried by hand, and even dragged. Unfortunately the master mason died a few years into the project and work had to be completed by those far less skilled, resulting in irregular walls and various kludges. It was finished in 1806.
In 1812, several large earthquakes hit. The largest one happened during a Sunday service. The quack twisted the main doors, pinning them shut, and the bulk of the nave crashed down... obliterating the bell tower as well. All 40 people were killed, plus two boys who had been ringing the bells in the tower.

Within a year, the brick bell wall had been completed and the salvaged four bells hung in it. Services were then held in Serra's Chapel. An attempt was made to rebuild the stone church in 1815 but if failed due to lack of expertise. Only parts of the transept, sanctuary and sacristy remain.

In 1818, the mission was raided by Hipolito Bouchard, a French privateer (today known as "California's only pirate"). He had just recently also hit Monterey and Santa Barbara. Mission guards fought back but were overwhelmed.

The sanctuary niches were once filled with statues. ... An archway of the trancept has since been bricked closed.

Located at the far end of the church hang the other two original bells where the bell tower once stood.

We wandered back through the outer courtyard and left the mission.

We took a break for lunch at El Adobe de Capistrano, a favorite restaurant of Richard Nixon when he was president.

President Nixon

We did not get what he got... but it was still really good!

We went back to wander through the Mission Basilica, which was next door to the mission.

Father O'Sullivan had talked about building a new church modeled after the destruction of the old stone one in 1812, but it wasn't until 1986 that one was actually constructed.

Sanctus Lucas Evangelista, Sanctus Barnabas Apostolus, Sanctus Simon Apostolus ... Sanctus Matthias Apostolus, Sanctus Marcus Evangelista

San Rafael, archangel

St. John of Capistrano .... and a galero

The hat is called a galero. Its color and number of tassels vary based on the rank of the cleric. Red with 15 tassels = a cardinal; green with 10 tassels = a bishop, etc. This one with black and 12 violet tassels is for a Chaplain of His Holiness. This is a is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are called Monsignor, which is an honorific form of address, not an appointment. One cannot be "made a monsignor" or be "the monsignor of a parish".

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