San Gabriel Mission

The San Gabriel Mission was the fourth California mission to be built out of a total of 21. This mission was founded in 1771 and was named for Archangel Gabriel. Franciscan priests founded the mission, which In 1775 was moved five miles east to its current location after military interference. The mission is famous for being the only California mission to have a Moorish design, created by Spaniard Antonio Cruzan. predominately made out of stone and brick with flying buttresses in the ceiling. When it was damaged in the 1804 earthquake, the buttresses were torn out and replaced with a new roof. In 1812, the mission withstood another earthquake but lost its bell tower in the process. The new campanile built soon after holds six bells that still chime out today. Now run by Claretian priests, the mission remains a vibrant outpost of the Catholic Church.