Founding date July 25, 1797 Area 1,619 m² | Opened 1821 Phone +1 805-467-3256 | |
 | ||
Location 775 Mission StreetSan Miguel, San Luis Obispo County, California 93451 Name as founded La Misión del Gloriosísimo Príncipe Arcángel, Señor San Miguel English translation The Mission of the Very Glorious Archangel Prince, Sir Saint Michael Patron Saint Michael the Archangel Nickname(s) "Mission on the Highway" ... "The Unretouched Mission" Address 775 Mission St, San Miguel, CA 93451, USA Hours Open today · 10AM–4:30PMTuesday10AM–4:30PMWednesday10AM–4:30PMThursday10AM–4:30PMFriday10AM–4:30PMSaturday10AM–4:30PMSunday10AM–4:30PMMonday10AM–4:30PM Architectural style Queen Anne style architecture Similar Mission San Antonio d, Mission San Luis Obispo d, La Purisima Mission, Mission San Rafael Arcángel, Mission Nuestra Señora d Profiles | ||
Mission san miguel arc ngel
Mission San Miguel Arcángel is a Spanish mission in San Miguel, San Luis Obispo County, California. It was established on July 25, 1797 by the Franciscan order, on a site chosen specifically due to the large number of Salinan Indians that inhabited the area, whom the Spanish priests wanted to evangelize.
Contents
The mission remains in use as a parish church of the Diocese of Monterey. After being closed to the public for six years due to the 2003 San Simeon earthquake, the church reopened on September 29, 2009. Inside the church are murals designed by Esteban Munras.
The mission was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and was named to a National Historic Landmark in 2006.
Features
Mission bells
Bells were vitally important to daily life at any mission. The bells were rung at mealtimes, to call the Mission residents to work and to religious services, during births and funerals, to signal the approach of a ship or returning missionary, and at other times; novices were instructed in the intricate rituals associated with the ringing the mission bells.
History
Father Fermín Lasuén and Father Buenaventura Sitjar founded the mission on July 25, 1797, making it the sixteenth California mission. Its location between Mission San Luis Obispo and Mission San Antonio de Padua provided a stop on the trip that had previously taken two days. A temporary wooden church was built with living quarters. The site was picked as it was close to a Salinan Indian village called Vahca. In 1798 the small chapel was replaced. In 1816 to 1818 a new church was constructed with a tile roof and courtyard.
Mission San Miguel Arcángel land sold off after the Mexican secularization act of 1833. The William Reed family lived in the buildings until 1848. Then the mission was closed and decay started. In 1841 the last Franciscan left San Miguel.
In 1859 the Mission was returned to the Catholic Church. But with the buildings all in ruins, no priests were assigned to the return mission. Parts were rented to a some small businesses. In 1878 the Church reactivated the mission and priest were again living at the mission.