Миссия Сан-Луис-Обиспо-де-Толоса: История и Архитектура Калифорнийской Миссии XVIII Века

18th century Spanish mission in California

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (lang es) is a Spanish mission founded September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra in San Luis Obispo, California. Named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the bishop of Toulouse, the mission is the namesake of San Luis Obispo. The Mission of San Luis Obispo is unusual in its design, in that its combination of belfry and vestibule are found nowhere else among the California missions. Like other churches, the main nave is short and narrow, but at the San Luis Obispo Mission, there is a secondary nave of almost equal size situated to the right of the altar, making it the only L shaped mission church in California.

In 1769, Gaspar de Portolá traveled through California on his way to the Bay of Monterey and traveled through the San Luis Obispo area. Expedition diarist and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí wrote that the soldiers called the place "llano de los osos", or the "plain of the bears". Portola followed the same route the following year, on his way to establish the Presidio of Monterey. Missionary president Junípero Serra, traveling by sea, met the Portola party there and founded San Carlos Borremeo, in Monterey, which was moved to Carmel the following year. The mission became the fifth in the mission chain founded by Father Junípero Serra. Serra himself was known for intimidating and controlling native subjects, and once baptized, the Chumash were not allowed to leave the missions, nor were the generations to follow. Father Serra sent an expedition down south to San Luis Obispo to start building the mission, and on September 1, 1772, a cross was erected near San Luis Obispo Creek and Serra celebrated the first mass. Following the first mass, Father Junípero Serra left the responsibility of construction to Father Jose Cavaller. Beginning in 1794 Mission San Luis Obispo went through extensive building operations. The arrival of the bells marked the end of improvements made to Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa for many years. A New England–style belfry was added. The changes protected the structure from further decay, although significantly altering the facade of the buildings. In the 1930s, during the pastorship of Fr. John Harnett, the buildings underwent extensive restoration to transform them back to early mission style. Construction of a plaza began in 1969 and the plaza was dedicated in 1970. The plaza in front of the mission often serves as a location for demonstrations and protests in the San Luis Obispo county.