Mission San Diego de Alcala, San Diego, California, USA

January 21, 2026

We are on a mission to visit all of California’s 21 historic Missions (pun intended). The Mission San Diego de Alcala was established in 1769 and is the first of the historic Californian Missions. For that reason, it is sometimes called the Mother of the Missions. It is named for a Franciscan missionary who was born in 1400 in Spain and went on to convert many of the native people of the Canary Islands. He died in 1463 and was canonized in 1588. The area was named San Diego in 1602 by Captain Sebastian Vizcaino, following the custom of Spanish explorers who often named newly discovered areas after saints whose feast days were near to the time of discovery.

We particularly admired this beautiful colorful mosaic depiction of the Stations of the Cross.