Mission San Juan Capistrano

One of my favorite place in Orange County, California aside from the Happiest Place – Disneyland is San Juan Capistrano. Rich in history and stories to tell.

The historic landmark and museum was once build over 240 years ago. Founded in year 1776 to be exact. Mission San Juan Capistrano, became the seventh of twenty-one missions to be founded in California. Like the previous six missions, San Juan Capistrano was established to expand the territorial boundaries of Spain, and to spread Christianity to the people of California.

The Spanish believed they could transform the natives into good Spanish citizens. The idea was to make colonial outposts called “Missions.” The missions would be a center of learning and training of natives. The Spanish government and Catholic Church wanted to convert the people to Christianity, train them in Spanish or European lifestyle, so that the they would eventually live in towns and pay taxes, like good Spanish citizens.

Native Americans first came to the Mission because they were curious about the Spanish forms of technology, new animals, new food, and ideas. As the natives interacted with the Spanish they soon realized the Padres wanted them to convert into Christianity and join the Mission. . . And the rest is history.

 

They provided multi lingual audio that you can carry and tell you about the different area

View of the ruins of Mission San Juan Capistrano’s “Great Stone Church,”