Misión San Gabriel Arcángel

Founded in 1771, the San Gabriel Arcángel Mission joined a large network of Spanish colonial churches throughout the territory that today comprises the Southwest United States. The Crown had granted the church permission to not only establish sanctuaries, but also to supervise local settlements in the hopes of converting the local peoples to Catholicisim. Its interior decoration still features some of the artistic work of these individuals. The church also has unusual architectural features (compared to the other Spanish missions established in the region during this period), borrowing from Arab cultures. It originally featured several warehouse buildings and a soldiers barracks.