Pilgrimage 2013: August 2013

The next day we crossed the bay to Fremont, California to the San Jose Mission. The city of San Jose has the Mission St. Claire, just to keep me confused. LOL
We toured the church, the museum, the mission and the cemetery, went to eat in Fremont and returned for an organ and piano recital in the evening. Our lucky day.
http://www.missionsanjose.org/
Mission San Jose was founded on June 11, 1797 by Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen on a site which was part of a natural highway by way of the Livermore Valley to the San Joaquin Valley. It is the fourteenth of the 21 Spanish Missions in Alta California. They were founded to secure Spain's claim to this land and to teach the native people Christianity and the Spanish way of life.
St. Joseph's Church:

The one mission without
a school bus in front!!!!

St. Joseph, the carpenter
made out of wood.

My first redwood sighting.

Front of St. Joseph's

Beautiful altar.

Baptismal Font.

Looking out.

Looking to the future.

The Museum:

Entry to the Mission

Remnants of the Lavenderia.

Restoration Plans

Time line for building the mission.

We wondered why the large kettle

It's a tallow pot to make candles!

This harmonium may have been used
in the original adobe church
before the 1868 Earthquake.

Tools found in excavations.

The Priest's cell

A great display of early life.

A drawing of Indian artifacts.
I'm fascinated by the fox sheath
for their arrows.

More found items.

Lovely drawing of how it was.

In the courtyard and the cemetery:

The wall shows the adobe bricks.

The fountain.

Don't remember other missions
having these supports.

Tombstones.

And more.

Only 26 years old.

The cross.

St. Francis

The Mission Church is still used for weddings and special events. The old organ in the balcony was the highlight of the recital that night. I didn't remember seeing the grand piano when we visited in the afternoon, but Marion assured me it was there. <smile> The organist/pianist was outstanding. He explained how hard it was to play the old organ and how different some of the sounds are. But he made it sing for us and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
Fremont Symphony Guild presents Tim Zerlang on piano and organ, May 18, 2013.

Mission San Jose'

The old organ.

Looking in. Awesome!

Looking out and up!

The Altar

Long before "The Passion"

Beautiful lights.

Even a chandelier!

The painted side.

The real side.

The very first place I took Marion was to the Mission Dolores in downtown San Francisco. Her request was to drive through Haight-Asbury and we did that, too.
http://missiondolores.org/old-mission/visitor.html

The Misión San Francisco de Asís was founded June 29, 1776. The settlement was named for St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order, but was also commonly known as "Mission Dolores" owing to the presence of a nearby creek named Arroyo de los Dolores, or "Creek of Sorrows."

Mission Dolores is the oldest intact building in the City of San Francisco and the only intact Mission Chapel in the chain of 21 established under the direction of Father Serra. The Mission has been a steadfast witness to the span of San Francisco's history including the California Gold Rush and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. The Mission Cemetery is the only cemetery that remains within the City limits. The Cemetery is the final resting place for numerous Ohlone, Miwok, and other First Californians as well as notable California pioneers.

There was so much to see, I've divided it into several sections. We begin with the outside:

Parking was the hardest part.

On-line photo.

Part of the old and part of the new.

Closer up.

Marion at the gate.

Looking up to see the top.

In a small courtyard.

Fr. Serra

Interesting succulent.

Succulent
with flowers!

I want to start with the history shown in old photographs in the museum.

One of the models set in a corner.

One of the reasons for all the missions
was to convert the Indians.
Indians at Mission 1816

Mission scene from 1826

Bullfights at mission 1842

Parish Rectory Seminary Inn 1860

After the 1906 earthquake.

Mission Dolores today.

Papal Visit Sept 17, 1987
Beatified May 1, 2011

In the Museum:

An old altar.

Quail, a common bird at the mission.

Indian Mannequin

Music was important part of
ceremonies and everyday life.

In the museum is a great replica of an Indian Village under glass.

I captured this image of the Ohlone home called a ruway.

Then we found a real one outside.

Chutchui Village of 1775
These ruway could be as small as
6-8 ft. diameter or as large as
20 ft. depending on the family.
The larger had smoke holes that
could be covered when it rained.

Bay Area Ohlone Indian hut.

Inside the Mission, I was again reminded of the power of paint. I don't think I need to point out the ceiling. Most ceiling have subdued motifs of alternating flowers and designs.