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MISSION SAN LUIS REY
See why it’s called the “King of the Missions.”
An architectural marvel with a complicated history.
Mission San Luis Rey, founded in 1798, is a national historic landmark and interpretive museum that is home to a community of Franciscan Friars serving the spiritual needs of parishioners and visitors alike. Artistically, it is a marvel—the only surviving California mission laid out in the style of a European gothic cathedral (“cruciform” for architecture buffs), boasting hand-carved wooden doors, brightly colored hand-painted walls and murals, and a hammered copper baptismal font. The largest of all the 21 California missions, is also a suitably solemn place to reflect on the role the mission system played in the Spanish occupation and colonization of the region’s indigenous lands and people, and their subsequent displacement within the United States. A self-guided or behind-the-scenes tour of the mission can be both educational and profoundly moving.
One for the History Books
Explore the “Sunken Gardens”
An active archeological site, this partially excavated “lavanderia” is where early Mission residents bathed and washed their clothes. Water was channeled into the adjoining gardens and fields.
Find the El Camino Real bell
Dating from 1906, San Luis Rey’s bell marks the site’s juncture with “the Royal Road,” the historic California Mission trail that connects all 21 missions.
See the Skull & Crossbones
Franciscan friars marked the entrance to cemeteries with this haunting symbol. In the late 1950s, Walt Disney Studios incorporated San Luis Rey’s graveyard gates into an episode of “Zorro.”
discover california's oldest pepper tree
California pepper trees, Schinus molle, were originally brought to Spanish California from Peru by the Franciscan friars. The oldest pepper tree in California, planted in 1830, graces Mission San Luis Rey to this day.
discover california's oldest pepper tree
California pepper trees, Schinus molle, were originally brought to Spanish California from Peru by the Franciscan friars. The oldest pepper tree in California, planted in 1830, graces Mission San Luis Rey to this day.
See the Skull & Crossbones
Franciscan friars marked the entrance to cemeteries with this haunting symbol. In the late 1950s, Walt Disney Studios incorporated San Luis Rey’s graveyard gates into an episode of “Zorro.”
Mission San Luis Rey
4050 Mission Avenue
Oceanside, CA 92057-6402
(760) 757-3651
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