My dad took the families of my sister and I to this mission yesterday after mass. It was a wonderful trip. Thought I'd share the photos here with you. This mission is San Luis Rey de Francia, or St. Louis the King of France, who ruled in the 13th century. There are a total of 21 missions in California, and their purpose was the spread of Christianity amongst the Native Americans who dwelt in these lands. Of all the missions, San Luis Rey was, and is, the largest. Construction began, as simple poles and tule, in 1811; adobe bricks, fired clay tiles, and wooden timber were used. Its one of only two mission Churches built in the shape of a cross. Hope you enjoy!
A view from outside:
Another outside shot:
A hallway just outside the entrance to the sanctuary:
Beautiful aesthetics in the ceiling:
Getting closer to the main altar, there is a chapel of the Madonna to the right, not in the view of this image though; original wooden pulpit to the left of the image; no microphones needed here; all perfect acoustics:
Of course it looked much more spectacular in real life, but here's a shot of the beautiful domed ceiling; it contains a cupola with 144 panes of glass; they were replaced in the 1930s:
A view of the main altar (Its overwhelming to think of how many Sacrifices were done here over the centuries!:
Another view of the main altar; San Luis Rey on the top, Sts. Michael(R) and Raphael(L) on either side of him; in the middle are St. Joseph (left) and the Blessed Virgin Mary (right)
Right side altar to the right of the main altar; This one is of St. Francis of Assisi (founder of the Franciscan Order, of course); the center statue of of St. Francis, to the left is the Mater Delorosa (Sorrowful Mother); the the right is St. Elizabeth of Hungary:
This is the left side, "Ecce Homo" altar; the sculpture depicts the suffering Christ just before his crucifixion; to the left is San Xavier (St. Francis Xavier) and to the right is St. Anthony;
The Ecce Homo statue is an 19th century piece from Mexico, and stands 62 inces tall; the wood statue has porcelain teeth and movable joints;
Looking back out (sorry for the quality!)
Baptistry; this is the same font, made of hand hammered copper with iron hardware, which was used by Fr. Peyri to baptize new Christians:
Describing the oldest pepper tree in California, in the foreground:
The pepper tree planted by Fr. Peyri
Ruins of a military post used by the US infantry which marched from Iowa in 1846, the longest march in history without firing a shot:
My sister and wife walking with my twin daughters to the lavanderia (coming up):
My 3 girls
Enterance to the Lavanderia:
Descriptive of what the Lavanderia was:
This is where the water would come out of the gargoyle's mouth so the indito's (indians) would be able to wash their clothes: