• A painting of Mission San Diego de Alcalá as it appeared in 1848 depicts the original campanario ("bell tower"), before it was reduced to rubble.
  • Welcome to Mission San Diego de Alcalá. California’s first mission was founded on July 16, 1769 by Saint Junípero Serra, a Franciscan priest.
  • San Diego Mission De Alcala Presidio Hill was converted into a park and the Serra museum erected under George Marston Several ghosts are said to haunt it.
  • Built in 1769, Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá is a very well preserved example of colonial architecture; one that fully deserves a visit when exploring...
  • In 1862, the United States returned San Diego de Alcalá to the Catholic Church. In 1931, Mission San Diego was restored to the superb structure we admire today.
  • Today, the church and a newer chapel, La Capilla de San Bernardino, combine to serve as religious center for Mission San Diego’s still large and active parish.
  • Then in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation returning Mission San Diego de Alcalá to the Catholic Church, but it was already in ruins.
  • The current church at Mission San Diego de Alcalá is the 5th church to stand in this location since San Diego was first settled in 1542.
  • Mission San Diego (California’s Heritage Series), 1988. Weber, F.J. The Proto Mission: A Documentary History of San Diego de Alcalá, 1980.
  • After detailed historical research, in restoration and rebuilding work began in 1931 to bring Mission San Diego de Alcalá back to its 1813 appearance.
  • Discover San Diego history in the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, first of the great California Missions and California's first church.
  • Father Serra founded the Mission of San Fernando Velicatá in Baja California and then Mission San Diego de Alcalá in Alta California.
  • Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá was the first Franciscan mission in the Las Californias Province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.