Remembering that Monterey Bay is a reverse “C” shape with the Monterey Peninsula (Carmel) on the south tip and Santa Cruz on the north tip; the next mission heading north from Carmel is about 20 miles inland to the east of the middle of the “C”, San Juan Bautista. Again, a strikingly different experience than Carmel. San Juan Bautista is a small town set right on the edge of the San Andreas Fault, sitting above the valley floor to the east. A state historic site, the town has preserved and used many of the buildings from the 1800’s along Main Street while a block away the old town plaza fronts the mission. Imagine yourself standing in the old town plaza (now a grassy park) and looking all four directions.
A block to the west a weathered downtown area is a small town collection of shops and restaurants.
One block of the main street is actually the walled in back of one of the historic buildings on the plaza in front of the mission and it contained several of the largest prickly pear cacti that I have ever seen (not, of course, that I am an aficionado of prickly pear cacti!). Several were easily more than 8’ tall.
The Old Mission San Juan Bautista is again an active parish and on the morning that I arrived a funeral for a state highway patrolman was just finishing up with a huge crowd. Not something that a crass tourist would choose to intrude on so Augie and I found a local park for lunch and a walk through the downtown area before returning to the mission a couple of hours later. As I noted before, the mission complex fronts on the old town plaza. Founded in 1797, the mission was built in the traditional quadrangle design though only the front wing and church remain. The church was in the process of being built during the great earthquake of 1812 and (completed in 1817) so was not severely damaged. The main altar and some of the side niches were designed and built by a sailor who jumped ship in Monterey and painted them in exchange for room and board. Interesting twist to the history of the mission: after the Mexican government took over the mission in 1835 it passed into private hands, including the Breen family who survived the Donner Party disaster of 1847 (group of pioneers got caught in the Sierra Nevada on their way to California and resorted to cannibalism to survive).
San Juan Bautista is physically the largest of the California mission churches. The width limitation seen in the southern churches (dictated by the size of trees available during construction) was not as strict here because of access to larger trees plus a series of thick arches down both sides of the main church allowed for additional space on both sides of the main church.
Behind the main altar is a small chapel which survives intact from 1812. It was used as the temporary chapel while the main church was being built. Now restored, the Guadalupe chapel is now used for daily mass rather than the much larger main basilica.
The inner courtyard is surrounded by the museum wing and the church on two sides and a low wall to the west. The picture faces the back of the museum wing with the side wall of the church on the left. The side walls of the main church were actually severely damaged by the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and were only recently restored in 1976.
The interesting changes in my itinerary continue as I leave the rural atmosphere of San Juan Bautista and head to the town of Santa Cruz for our next mission, Mission Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz Mountains reach out to the sea at the north end of Monterey Bay and the city of Santa Cruz is built at the base of these mountains along a narrow coastal strip. The mission site is atop Mission Hill, just above downtown. It was somewhat of a challenge to find as I drove around the area several times, not realizing that there WAS no mission to see. The original mission buildings were destroyed in earthquakes in 1840 and 1857. The church continued to be a presence on the site but no effort was made at preservation of the ruins. The park across the street is a remnant of the original Spanish plaza that was in front of the church, but now it fronts the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on the east and a small replica of the mission church (built in 1931) on the south. The only building that survives from the mission era is a block behind the 1931 replica. It was originally a series of workrooms.
The Mission Hill area around the mission site is replete with restored Victorian houses.
The beach at Santa Cruz is a popular spot for people from the southern bay area since it is only about an hour away. Anchoring the north end of the beach is the Santa Cruz Wharf, jutting out over 2,400 feet into the bay. Originally built in 1914 to serve as a dock for ships, it is now an entertainment destination lined with restaurants, arcades, etc. Just south of where I stood to take the wharf picture, the Santa Cruz boardwalk begins, It stretches along the beach for nearly a mile and is a collection of games, roller coasters, arcades, etc., strung along the west side of the street. Otherwise the neighborhoods directly to the east are older, run down, and your stereotypical weathered beach community.
The weather continues to be cloudy and mild, with no rain. I can’t believe my weather luck is holding and hope that it continues as our travels now take us up and over the coast ranges and into the lower San Francisco Bay area around San Jose.
Next: Mission Santa Clara and Mission San Jose