CA -- San Juan Capistrano -- Mission (ruins) -- Interiors:
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CAPISI_090721_120.JPG: Padre's Kitchen:
The Mission Kitchen or Pozolera was part of a three-room building erected in 1778. Originally constructed with a flat roof covered with jacal, which are densely packed reeds, the kitchen was extensively remodeled in 1789 and given a conical ceiling, a brick-lattice chimney, and a pitched roof covered with clay tiles. The iron hooks in the west wall were probably for hanging meat or other food.
Mission San Juan Capistrano cultivated large vegetable gardens, fruit orchards, and vineyards and also raised cattle, sheep, and chickens. The ringing of church bells regulated the daily activities at the Mission, such as work periods, siestas, as well as meals. There were three meals each day, usually pozole or atole, with meat, vegetables, fresh or dried fruit, and bread. Breakfast usually consisted of atole, gruel made of corn or other grain, which was roasted before it was ground into meal. The midday meal was very substantial, consisting of pozole, a stew made of meat, corn, and other vegetables, which varied depending on the season. Supper was generally more atole. These meals were cooked in large kettles on top of stoves or fire pits located inside the kitchen.
Acorns were one of the most important food sauces for the Juanenos. Traditionally, they were gathered during the fall season and stored in large basket containers. The acorns were ground into a fine powder, or meal, using the mano and metate. Acorns contain a bitter-tasting substance called tannic acid, which was removed by leaching the ground meal. The meat from the acorns was used in a rich staple food called weewish.
Baking was done outdoors in the horno, a bee-hived shaped oven made of adobe and covered with a coat of mud plaster. A final layer of lime plaster or whitewash was added to help seal the exterior.
Fine, tightly-stitched baskets could be used as bowls or for fathering and carrying acorns, seeds, and other food. Larger baskets were traditionally used for processing foods, especially seeds and nuts. Some baskets were so tightly woven that they could hold water.
The mano and metate were utensils used to grind grain (seeds, nuts, and other plant foods) into flour. The mano was held in the hands and rubbed over the grain in the metate. Both were made out of stone, so that their roughness was similar to grinding stones in a flour mill.
CAPISI_090721_132.JPG: The Mission Pantry:
The balcony and shelves in this room were here when Father O'Sullivan arrived in 1910, and he thought they were probably relics from mission days, when the padres and Natives raised and stored large quantities of foodstuffs. The Spanish brought citrus fruits and foods from Europe and the Near East; in turn, they took tomatoes, potatoes, and other plants to the Old World. Storage of food was accomplished in various ways -- drying, salting, and using ceramic vessels, as seen in this room.
CAPISI_090721_245.JPG: Ceiling:
A portion of the ceiling in this room has been purposefully left unfinished to show the original wood beam construction and finishes exposed during conservation stabilization efforts in the 1990s.
Visible are sycamore beams and reed lathing. Over this, adobe mud was applied as a plaster to seal voids for the moderation of internal temperatures. It is an example of early construction techniques and material choices used to finish the rooms. In the semi-arid climate of the San Juan Capistrano valley, larger native trees were scarce and finished lumber was extremely valuable. It is for this reason that numerous smaller trees were required for the beams that span this room. Additionally, since strips of wood for lathing were unavailable, river reeds were used instead to hold the adobe mud in place to create the finished ceiling.
CAPISI_090721_253.JPG: The eroded floor piece
CAPISI_090721_273.JPG: Father Serra's Church:
This is the original Mission Church, oldest
building in California, the only standing
church where Father Serra said
Mass.
The 300 year old Baroque Altar
is from Spain.
CAPISI_090721_295.JPG: You are in Father Serra's Church:
On October 12-13, 1783, Frey Junipero Serra confirmed 213 persons in this church -- It has the distinction of being the only church now standing in California in which Father Serra officiated -- The oldest portion, [from line in wall to chancel steps] dates from 1777. The portion from line in wall to front door, 1783. -- Chancel and Sacristy rebuilt 1923. -- The original parts of interior that remain are: the ten beams in the ceiling, counting from the front door. The walls, as far as the chancel steps, the iron rail in the choir loft, the shutters of the left side -- The widths of the new walls of the chancel are four feet thick, like the old. The material is adobe blocks of sun dried earth, 4x12x22 inches. From the nature of the material, the walls must be thick. -- The church is narrow because only short ceiling beams were available. -- The decorations have been copied from old ones here and at the missions of Santa Ines and San Luis Rey where a copy of the original is retained to enrich the sanctuary. -- -- The altar is an early Franciscan Baroque altar of the 17th or 18th century of cherry wood having been brought from Barcelona about 1806. The retalbo of 196 parts is handcarved and gold leafed. -- The following statues occupy the niches: San Juan Capistrano, San Francisco de Asis, San Miguel Archangel, San Pedro, and Santa Clara.
CAPISI_090721_530.JPG: Leon Rene: Commemorative Room:
Leon Rene, Composer of "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano":
On March 19, 1939, Leon Rene was inspired to write his song while listening to a radio broadcast announcing the return of the swallows to Capistrano. He said to his wife, "That would be a great title for a song." Shortly, the song became famous and was recorded by the Ink Spots, Fred Waring, and Guy Lombardo, and was on the top of the Lucky Strike Parade. Leon Rene was made an honorary citizen of the City of San Juan Capistrano, and his song helped make the Mission, the City, and the legend of the swallows (St. Joseph's Day) famous.
CAPISI_090721_534.JPG: Piano used by Leon Rene to write "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano."
CAPISI_090721_588.JPG: March 18, 1865:
President Abraham Lincoln signed the documents which restored Mission San Juan Capistrano to the Catholic Church.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: San Juan Capistrano, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for "St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census.
San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. Junípero Serra established Mission San Juan Capistrano. Extensive damage caused by the 1812 Capistrano earthquake caused the community to decline. Following the Mexican secularization act of 1833, the mission village officially became a town and was briefly renamed as San Juan de Argüello. Following the American Conquest of California, San Juan remained a small, rural town until the 20th century; the restoration of the mission in the 1910-20's transformed the town into a tourist destination and a backdrop for Hollywood films.
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2009_CA_CapistranoM: CA -- San Juan Capistrano -- Mission (ruins) (184 photos from 2009)
2009 photos: Equipment this year: I mostly used the Fuji S100fs. I've also got a Nikon D90 and a newer Fuji -- the S200EHX -- both of which are nice but I still prefer the flexibility of the Fuji.
Trips this year:
Niagara Falls, NY,
New York City,
Civil War Trust conferences in Gettysburg, PA and Springfield, IL, and
my 4th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Los Angeles, Yosemite, Death Valley, Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree, etc).
Ego strokes: I had a picture of a Lincoln-Obama cupcake sculpture published in Civil War Times and WUSA-9, the local CBS affiliate, ran a quick piece on me. A picture that I took at the annual Abraham Lincoln Symposium appeared in the National Archives' "Prologue" magazine. I became a volunteer with the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Number of photos taken this year: 417,000.
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