The last of California’s Spanish Plazas is surrounded by the largest of the Spanish Missions, Mission San Juan Batista, the last unpaved portion of California’s historic El Camino Real, an old adobe convent that was once part of the mission and The Plaza Hotel. At the edge of the plaza a sign marks the spot where the San Andreas Fault meets the “The Royal Road”. The community and parish life has centered around the plaza and the mass which has had uninterrupted services since the missions founding in 1797. The church’s part in California’s history runs deep and she continues to minister her people through her missions.

 

 

Walk through the mission doors and you step into a time gone by. The mission gardens and cemetery tell the story of a community. The last of the mission’s original occupants is buried beneath a Red Cross with her name in-scrolled across it, Ascension Solorsano. The priest who made San Juan famous for its music is buried inside the church. In the museum you will find the original cross of the mission and mementos from Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Vertigo. Scenes from the movie were filmed in the mission.

 

The original chapel built in 1797 has been restored, right down to the cat door allowing cats to enter the church and grain storage area to catch mice.

The City of San Juan boasts some 30 historic buildings and can be found off Hwy 156 just a short distance from Hwy 101. Follow the historic markers through the center of town. The mission church and grounds opens at 9:30 a.m. the California State Park opens at 10a.m. (closed on Mondays) with self-guided tours of the surrounding buildings.