On July 16th, 1769, sixteen days after his arrival in San Diego, Father Serra established the first mission in California—the Mission San Diego de Alcalá. The original site was unsatisfactory so a spot was later chosen six miles back from the ocean in Mission Valley where the present buildings now stand. San Diego was one of the wealthiest of the missions. It had extensive orchards and vineyards, irrigated by an aqueduct which brought water from the valley. Parts of the old mission dam which was twelve feet thick, may still be seen. The olive trees around the Mission form the mother orchard of all California mission olives. The whole Mission has been restored in every detail. Its belfry, one of the most magnificent of all the missions, is a three-story wall pierced by five arches in which hang the old bells. [Illustration: _Entrance to Church, San Gabriel_] [Illustration: _Bell Tower, San Gabriel_] Four miles inland from Oceanside, in a beautiful valley, stands Mission San Luis Rey de Francia. The present buildings were started in 1811 by Father Peyri, who managed the Mission for thirty years. It is now used as a church and a Franciscan college. A feature not found in any other mission is the mortuary chapel, a small octagonal shaped room off the main chapel. San Luis Rey is typically Spanish in its architecture and while not one of the most beautiful, it has a stately magnificence that none of the other missions possesses. [Illustration: _Side Entrance to Chapel, San Gabriel_] [Illustration: _Façade, San Fernando Rey_] [Illustration: _Fountain, San Fernando Rey_] [Illustration: _Façade, Ventura_] Twenty miles inland from Mission San Luis Rey stands San Antonio de Pala, founded as an asistencia. In its chapel are Indian frescoes covered for many years with a coat of whitewash given the wall by a well-meaning padre. Its campanile, in which hang the original bells, stands in the old cemetery. Pala, nestling at the base of the Palomar Mountains, is a spot of enchanting beauty. [Illustration: _Side Door, Ventura_] [Illustration: _Chapel, Santa Barbara_] The first attempt to found San Juan Capistrano was in 1775, but due to an Indian uprising Father Lasuén was forced to return to San Diego. The next year Father Serra came and established the Mission. It took nine years to build and was the largest and most beautiful of all. In 1812 there was an earthquake that destroyed the buildings and killed forty Indians who were worshiping in the chapel. All of the buildings have been rebuilt except the chapel, of which one of the seven large domes still stands in its lonely grandeur, a delight to the artist. Capistrano, elaborately decorated and artistically constructed, is sometimes called “Jewel of the Missions.” [Illustration: _Façade, Santa Barbara_] [Illustration: _General View, Santa Barbara_]