On our quest to visit all 21 of the California Missions, we stopped by San Francisco de Asís this weekend. The mission was originally founded in 1776 with the still standing mission building constructed in 1791. The adjacent basilica was finished in 1918 after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed the brick church that sat on that spot. Although the original mission is constructed of non-earthquake proof adobe, it survived the earthquake that leveled most of the neighborhood.

Father and Saint Junípero Serra directed the creation of this Mission. He is called the “Apostle of California” but generally seen as a controversial figure because of his treatment of the native Americans.