Misión San Juan Capistrano (California)

Throughout the eighteenth century, Spanish friars established more than twenty Spanish colonial churches across the territory that comprises the modern-day state of California. This one, named the Mission San Juan Capistrano, was founded in 1776. These institutions aimed to convert the local peoples (the Acjachemen) to Christianity and teach them Spanish ways of living and working. It is located on the coast of California in the city of the same name, San Juan Capistrano, in between Los Angeles and San Diego. This source is part of the Historic Churches in the Southwestern US Source Collection.