Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá

History & Significance

Basilica · Est. Founded July 16, 1769

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá was founded on July 16, 1769, by Franciscan friar Junípero Serra as the first of California's 21 Spanish missions, on land long inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. After early difficulties, the mission was relocated about six miles east; in 1775 it was destroyed in a native uprising in which Father Luís Jayme was killed, becoming California's first Christian martyr. President Lincoln restored the property to the Catholic Church in 1862, and Pope Paul VI designated the church a minor basilica in 1976. It remains an active parish serving the Diocese of San Diego.

Spanish Colonial mission architecture with an adobe campanario (bell wall)

• •Founded July 16, 1769 by Franciscan friar Junípero Serra — the first of the 21 California missions
• •Father Luís Jayme was killed in the 1775 uprising and is regarded as California's first Christian martyr, buried in the mission sanctuary
• •President Abraham Lincoln restored ownership to the Roman Catholic Church by proclamation on May 23, 1862
• •Designated a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1976
• •Active parish church serving the Diocese of San Diego