Mission San Juan Bautista is the fifteenth of the Spanish missions of Alta California. Founded in 1797 by Fray Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, the mission was founded in the region of the Mutsun Ohlone people.
Location:
406 2nd St, San Juan Bautista, CA 95045
County:
San Benito County
Date founded:
June 24, 1797
Patron saint:
St. John the Baptist.
Nickname:
“The Mission of Music”
Founder:
Fr. Fermín Francisco de Lasuén.
Native peoples:
Mutsun (Ohlone), also Yokuts from the San Joaquin Valley.
Goods produced:
Wheat, barley, corn, beans, peas.
Features:
Mexican-era plaza with historical buildings; adobe church with ladrillo (brick) façade, convento wing with tiled corridor.
Current status:
Mission San Juan Bautista is an active Roman Catholic parish.
Historical landmark number:
California Historical Landmark no. 195; National Historical Landmark
Ten Interesting Facts About Mission San Juan Bautista:
1. When it was first built in 1812, the mission chapel was the largest church building in Alta California.
2. Mission San Juan Bautista was home to Fr. Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta, who learned at least seven Indian languages and wrote a book on the native languages of northern Alta California.
3. Mission San Juan Bautista lies directly on the edge of the San Andreas Fault, which forms part of the tectonic boundary between the Pacific plate and the North American plate.
4. The mission church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1803 and fully rebuilt in 1812.
4. Mission San Juan Bautista is an active parish, but the buildings surrounding it in the downtown plaza are part of San Bautista State Historic Park.
5. Both the mission and the town of San Juan Bautista played a prominent role in the 1958 movie Vertigo, directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
6. During World War II, the U.S. Navy named a ship after the mission: the U.S.S. Mission San Juan.
7. The mission church is the only three-aisled church in the California mission chain.
8. Each year, on the day of the Winter Solstice, the rising sun illuminates the tabernacle on the church altar.
9. At its peak in 1823, the mission population numbered 1,248 individuals.
10. Fr. Estevan Tapis was a famed composer and musician who established a choir of Native singers. The San Juan Bautista Museum maintains two of Fr. Tapis’ choir books.
Important events:
- June, 1812: New mission church completed.
- 1813: Soldiers’ barracks built.
- 1815: Fr. Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta publishes a study of the various Indian languages at the mission.
- Nov. 19, 1859: President James Buchanan returns the mission church and some surrounding property to the Catholic Church.
Daily life:
Daily life at Mission San Juan Bautista was very similar to life at other missions. You can learn more about daily life at the missions here.