California Mission Studies Association

MISSION SAN CARLOS BORROMEO   (CARMEL)

Carmel Mission, as it is popularly known, was founded June 3, 1770, by Padre  Junipero Serra. He lies buried beneath the church floor in front of the main altar,  along with other padres who helped found the Mission.    Padre Serra, along with Gaspar de Portolá, had been sent by the Spanish to settle  the Monterey area and solidify Spain's claim on this part of the New World. His  assignment was to found a mission and convert the Indians of California to  Christianity; Portolá was to establish the military presidio. The mission was named  for a 16th century cardinal, Saint Charles Borromeo.  For a year the mission operated at the Presidio, but in 1771, Padre Serra moved his  mission to a spot near the Carmel River, which offered seclusion from the Presidio  and good soil for agriculture. There the Franciscans set about converting, teaching  and housing the Indians, cultivating the land, and building the mission church. Soon  the mission had grown into a large compound with living quarters for the padres and  the Indians, a chapel, corrals, ranges for sheep and cattle, gardens and orchards.  The Indians were taught to build, carve, make candles and saddles, and to spin and  weave. The mission raised enough food and produced enough goods to supply the  Presidio, nearby settlers and ships that docked in Monterey harbor.    The original church and dwellings were temporary structures of wood and adobe. The  permanent mission church was finished and dedicated in 1797, and still stands today.  Carmel Mission was Serra's headquarters and residence until his death in 1784 at the  age of 71.    In 1834, when the Mexican government secularized the missions, the Franciscan  padres refused to pledge allegiance to Mexico, and they were ordered to leave the  mission properties and return to Spain. Carmel Mission was abandoned in 1836, and  the buildings began to decay.     Through the years, more and more people took an interest in restoring the historic  old mission. In 1924, Father Ramon Mestres, with the help of the renowned sculptor  and artist Jo Mora, restored the first room of the old quadrangle.  Beginning in 1933,  Henry Downie, an authority on California missions, directed the restoration of the  original roof and began reconstruction of the padres' quarters and other quadrangle  buildings.  Until his death in 1980, Downie worked tirelessly to restore the Mission to  its original stature and beauty. Today, Carmel Mission is an active parish.  In 1960 Pope John XXIII declared Carmel  Mission a Minor Basilica, one of only two in the western United States. The Mission has five museum buildings.  All, along with the beautiful gardens and  courtyards, are open to the public.  All contain art and artifacts of California's early  history.  In the Mora Chapel Museum there is an original leather shield and lance  head used by the solders of the 1769 Portola Expedition.  Also in the Mora  Chapel you will find the elaborate Serra memorial cenotaph, sculpted in 1924 by Jo  Mora, of Carmel travertine and bronze. Nearby are the original silver altar pieces of  the mission.    In the Munras Museum, you can see a model of the mission as it was in its early  days.  In the Convento Museum, all of the rooms contain historic artifacts and  photographs.  An 1877 painting by Leon Trousset of Padre Serra celebrating mass  under the old oak tree beside Monterey harbor hangs in the Padre's dinning room.   Nine bells are housed in the Moorish-style bell tower. Inside the church, the walls  curve inward, and the ceiling follows the sweep of the walls to form a catenary arch.  Many Spanish settlers are buried in the church, too. The statue of the Virgin in the  Mortuary Chapel is the original Spanish figure brought to California by Padre Serra  from Mexico in 1769. In the cemetery adjacent to the church, some 3000 Indian converts lie buried. Most  of the graves are unmarked except for a few weathered wooden crosses and abalone  shells. Visiting hours at the Carmel Mission are from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday through  Saturday and 10:30 am to 5:00 pm on Sunday. The Mission is closed Easter Sunday  and Monday, Thanksgiving, and over the Christmas holidays from Dec. 24 through  Jan. 2. Admissions for upkeep and restoration are $5.00 for adults, $4.00 for  seniors and $1.00 for children and youths ages 5-17.