#missionsangabriel

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One of southern california's historical landmarks - san gabriel mission church #catholicchurch #californiahistory #historiclandmark #historicalbuilding #sangabriel #losangeles #la #cali #california #usa #church #missionchurch #missionsangabriel (at San Gabriel, California)

[metro-edge]

     THE MISSION was empty, mostly, a couple of gardeners waving to me from across the hedge, stopping for a moment from trimming and raking the tidy grounds. In the parking lot a hearse waited for the funeral to conclude.

     Recently, vandals poured paint on the statue memorial of Junipero Serra up in Carmel. Inside the grounds at Mission San Gabriel the statue is in a corner courtyard and stands unharmed.

     It was peaceful in the cemetary, the wrought iron gates open, rows of headstones planted in the grass, a ridge line of the San Gabriel Mountains rising in the north.

     I toured the museum, moving through the lattice covered flagstone walkways, past the tombs and kitchen, the cisterns with their brick walls mortared to last five hundred years. Inside the old chapel the green walls held paintings of mission life.