Mission San Miguel Arcángel
San Miguel's various-sized arches are a noted feature of this mission | |
| Location | 775 Mission Street San Miguel, San Luis Obispo County, California 93451 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°44′41″N 120°41′53″W / 35.74472°N 120.69806°W |
| Name as founded | La Misión del Gloriosísimo Príncipe Arcángel, Señor San Miguel |
| English translation | The Mission of the Very Glorious Archangel Prince, Sir Saint Michael |
| Patron | Saint Michael the Archangel |
| Nickname(s) | "Mission on the Highway" ... "The Unretouched Mission" |
| Founding date | July 25, 1797 |
| Founding priest(s) | Father Fermín Lasuén |
| Area | 0.4 acres (0.16 ha) |
| Built | 1821 |
| Architectural style(s) | Spanish/California Mission Style |
| Founding Order | Sixteenth |
| Military district | Third |
| Native tribe(s) Spanish name(s) | Salinan |
| Native place name(s) | Valica |
| Baptisms | 2,471 |
| Marriages | 764 |
| Burials | 1,868 |
| Secularized | 1834 |
| Returned to the Church | 1859 |
| Governing body | Diocese of Monterey |
| Current use | Parish Church |
| Designated | July 14, 1971 |
| Reference no. | 71000191 |
| Designated | March 20, 2006 |
| Reference no. | #326 |
| Website | |
| http://www.oldmissionsanmiguel.org/ | |
Mission San Miguel Arcángel is a Spanish mission in San Miguel, California. It was established on July 25, 1797, by the Franciscan order, on a site chosen specifically due to the large number of Salinan Indians that inhabited the area, whom the Spanish priests wanted to evangelize.
The mission remains in use as a parish church of the Diocese of Monterey. After being closed to the public for six years due to the 2003 San Simeon earthquake, the church reopened on September 29, 2009. Inside the church are murals designed by Esteban Munras.
The mission was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and was named to a National Historic Landmark in 2006. Of California's missions, it is one that retains more than most of its layout and buildings, including a portion of its neophyte village.