Mission San Gabriel Arcangel

Address:428 S Mission Dr.
San Gabriel, California
Tel: (626) 457-3048

Come to the tranquil Mission San Gabriel Archangel and learn about the people, cultures, art and events of Spanish and Mexican California. The Mission San Gabriel Archangel, located South of Pasadena and San Marino in the city that bears the mission's name, includes the church, an ancient cemetery, and a functioning winery, as well as an impressive collection of mission relics. Its hammered copper baptismal font was the gift of King Carlos III of Spain in 1771, and the six priceless altar statues were brought around the Horn from Spain in 1791. Legend has it that a large group of the native Shoshone people confronted the founding expedition when it arrived in order to drive the strangers away, but when one of the padres laid a painting of "Our Lady of Sorrows" on the ground for all to see, the natives were so moved by the painting's beauty, they immediately made peace with the missionaries. Today the 300-year-old piece hangs in the mission's sanctuary, along with other items equally steeped in history.

The Mission San Gabriel Archangel is set on spacious grounds and the main structure retains its original facade, notable for its high oblong windows and large capped buttresses, said to have been influenced by a cathedral in Cordova, Spain. After its founding in the 1770s, little San Gabriel grew to become the wealthiest of all the early missions in California, and the buildings seen today at the mission date back to 1796. Visitors can also learn what happened when a little party of two padres, several Indian acolytes and eleven families left the mission in 1781 and settled in the hills nine miles westward (hint: Los Angeles).

The mission is named for Archangel Gabriel. The original site for the mission carried the Indian name Sibagna, or Tobiscagna. Moved from its original site because of disruptions by the military, the new site was so prosperous this mission has the nickname "Queen of the Missions." The mission was restored to the Church in 1859. The museum contains a collection of early sacred art canvases