 The façade of the capilla (chapel) at Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo. |
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| Location | 3080 Rio Rd. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California 93923 |
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| Name as Founded | La Misión San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo [1] |
| Patron | Saint Charles Borromeo [2] |
| Nickname(s) | "Father of the Alta California Missions" [3] |
| Founding Date | June 3, 1770 [4] |
| Founding Priest(s) | Father Presidente Junípero Serra [5] |
| Founding Order | Second [2] |
| Headquarters of the Alta California Mission System | 1771–1815; 1819–1824; 1827–1830 [6] |
| Military District | Third [7] |
| Native Tribe(s) Spanish Name(s) |
Esselen, Ohlone Costeño |
| Native Place Name(s) | Ekheya [8] |
| Baptisms | 3,827 [9] |
| Marriages | 1,032 [9] |
| Burials | 2,837 [9] |
| Secularized | 1834 [2] |
| Returned to the Church | 1859 [2] |
| Governing Body | Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey |
| Current Use | Parish Church |
| Coordinates | 36°32′33.6258″N 121°55′11.0496″W / 36.542673833°N 121.919736°WCoordinates: 36°32′33.6258″N 121°55′11.0496″W / 36.542673833°N 121.919736°W |
| National Historic Landmark | #NPS-66000214 |
| Date added to the NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| California Historical Landmark | #135 |
| Web Site | http://carmelmission.org |
| Carmel Mission | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| U.S. National Historic Landmark | |
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| Location: | Carmel, California |
| Coordinates: | 36°32′34″N 121°55′7″W / 36.54278°N 121.91861°W |
| Built/Founded: | 1793 |
| Architectural style(s): | Spanish Colonial |
| Governing body: | Roman Catholic Church |
| Added to NRHP: | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL: | October 9, 1960[10] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 66000214[11] |
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, also known as the Carmel Mission, is a Roman Catholic mission church in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It is part of the National Registry of Historic Places and a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
It was the headquarters of the original Alta California Missions headed by Father Junípero Serra from 1770 until his death in 1784.
The Mission also was the seat of the padre presidente, Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen[12]. It was destroyed in the mid 1800s, only to be restored beginning in 1884[13]. It remains a parish church today. It is regarded as the most beautiful of all missions[by whom?], and is the only one to have its original bell tower dome.
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History
The mission, first established on June 3, 1770, in nearby Monterey, (near the native village of Tamo), was named for Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, Italy. It was the site of the first Christian confirmation in Alta California.[5] In May, 1771, the viceroy approved Father Junípero Serra's petition to relocate the Mission to its current location near the present-day town of Carmel-by-the-Sea.[14] Serra's goal was to put some distance between the Mission's neophytes and the Presidio of Monterey, (the headquarters of Pedro Fages, who served as military governor of Alta California between 1770 and 1774, with whom Serra was engaged in a heated power struggle).[15] The original site continued to operate as the "Royal Presidio Chapel" and later became the Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo. "Mission Carmel" (as it came to be known) was Father Serra's favorite and, being close to Monterey (the capital of Alta California), served as his headquarters. When he died on August 28, 1784, he was interred beneath the chapel floor.
The Esselen and Ohlone Indians who lived near the Mission were taken in and trained as plowmen, shepherds, cattle herders, blacksmiths, and carpenters. They made adobe bricks, roof tiles and tools needed to build the Mission. In the beginning, the Mission relied on bear meat from Mission San Antonio de Padua and supplies brought by ship from Mission San Diego de Alcalá. In 1794, the population reached its peak of 927, but by 1823 the total had dwindled to 381. On November 20, 1818, French privateer Hipólito Bouchard raided the Monterey Presidio, before moving on to other Spanish installations in the south.[16] The Mission was in ruins when the Roman Catholic Church regained control of it in 1863. In 1884 Father Angel Casanova undertook the work of restoration. In 1931, Monsignor Philip Scher appointed Harry Downie to be curator in charge of Mission restoration; it became an independent parish two years later. In 1961, the Mission was designated as a Minor Basilica by Pope John XXIII. In 1987, Pope John Paul II visited the Mission as part of his U.S. tour.
Today
Mission Carmel has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. It is also an active parish church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey. Masses are held at 7am, noon and 5:30pm Monday-Friday, Saturday at 8:30am and 5:30pm, and Sunday at 7:30am, 9:30am, 11am, 12:30pm, and 5:30pm.
In addition to its activity as a place of worship, Mission Carmel also hosts concerts, art exhibits, lectures and numerous other community events.
Mission Carmel also serves as a museum, preserving its own history and the history of the area. There are four specific museum galleries: the Harry Downie museum, describing restoration efforts; the Munras Family Heritage Museum, describing the history of one of the most important area families; the Jo Mora Chapel Gallery, hosting a cenotaph sculpted by Jo Mora as well as rotating art exhibits; and the Convento Museum, which holds the cell Father Serra lived and died in, as well as interpretive exhibits.
Visiting hours at Mission Carmel are 9:30am to 5pm Monday through Saturday and 10:30am to 5pm on Sundays.
The Mission Carmel grounds are also the location of the Junipero Serra School, a private Catholic school for kindergartners through 8th grade.
Notable interments
Several notable people are buried in the church and churchyard.
- Juan Crespí (1721–1782), Spanish missionary and explorer
- Fermín Lasuén (1736–1803), Spanish missionary
- José Antonio Roméu, Spanish governor of California
- Junípero Serra (1713–1784), founder of the mission
Notes
- ^ Leffingwell, p. 113
- ^ a b c d Krell, p. 83
- ^ Ruscin, p. 25
- ^ Yenne, p. 33
- ^ a b Ruscin, p. 196
- ^ Yenne, p. 186
- ^ Forbes, p. 202
- ^ Ruscin, p. 195
- ^ a b c Krell, p. 315: as of December 31, 1832; information adapted from Engelhardt's Missions and Missionaries of California.
- ^ NHL Summary
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://www.nr.nps.gov/.
- ^ NHL Writeup
- ^ NPS Red Book
- ^ Smith, p. 18: The Mission was established in the new location on August 1, 1771; the first mass was celebrated on August 24; and Serra officially took up residence in the newly constructed buildings on December 24.
- ^ Paddison, p. 23: Fages regarded the Spanish installations in California as military institutions first, and religious outposts second.
- ^ There is a great contrast between the legacy of Bouchard in Argentina versus his reputation in the United States. In Buenos Aires, Bouchard is honored as a brave patriot, while in California he is most often remembered as a pirate, and not a privateer. See Hippolyte de Bouchard.
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo |
- Cathedral of San Carlos Borroméo (aka Royal Presidio Chapel), Monterey, California
- USNS Mission Carmel (AO-113), a Buenaventura Class fleet oiler built during World War II.
- USNS Mission San Carlos (AO-120), a Buenaventura Class fleet oiler built during World War II.
References
- Forbes, Alexander (1839). California: A History of Upper and Lower California. Smith, Elder and Co., Cornhill, London.
- Jones, Terry L. and Kathryn A. Klar (eds.) (2007). California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity. Altimira Press, Landham, MD. ISBN 0-759-10872-2.
- Krell, Dorothy (ed.) (1979). The California Missions: A Pictorial History. Sunset Publishing Corporation, Menlo Park, CA. ISBN 0-376-05172-8.
- Leffingwell, Randy (2005). California Missions and Presidios: The History & Beauty of the Spanish Missions. Voyageur Press, Inc., Stillwater, MN. ISBN 0-89658-492-5.
- Paddison, Joshua (ed.) (1999). A World Transformed: Firsthand Accounts of California Before the Gold Rush. Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA. ISBN 1-890771-13-9.
- Ruscin, Terry (1999). Mission Memoirs. Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA. ISBN 0-932653-30-8.
- Smith, Frances Rand (1921). The Architectural History of Mission San Carlos Borromeo, California. California Historical Survey Commission, Berkeley, CA.
- Vancouver, George (1801). A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World, Volume III. Printed for John Stockdale, Piccadilly, London.
- Yenne, Bill (2004). The Missions of California. Advantage Publishers Group, San Diego, CA. ISBN 1-59223-319-8.
External links
- Official Site
- Elevation & Site Layout sketches of the Mission proper
- Early photographs, sketches, land surveys of Carmel Mission, via Calisphere, California Digital Library
- Listing and photographs at the Historic American Buildings Survey
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