The Mission San Antonio de Pala was founded in 1816 on June 13 and can be found as a restored 'capilla' or chapel in San Diego County. The Mission used to be called Mission San Antonio de Pala Asistencia but is now formally known as Mission San Antonio de Pala.
The chapel sits on the Indian Pala Reservation (pale means water) and is surrounded by lush fields and herds of cattle. The fact that the original Mission was so close to the San Diego River attracted a large number of Indians.
The major unique feature of the Mission San Antonio de Pala is that it has a stand alone campanile or bell tower, and there is no other mission in all of California with the same such feature. It was certainly a busy outpost performing 1,300 baptisms in its first four years.
In 1899 the mission suffered a severe earthquake and the church sanctuary collapsed, but was later rebuilt, and the traditional Corpus Christi festival has been celebrated every year since its inception. The church is still a day to day functioning system and welcomes parishioners from all over the world.
At the base of the cross on the main tower, if you look closely you can see a small cactus that was planted by Padre Peyri when the Asistencia was completed; he climbed the tower and planted the cactus as a symbol mimicking Christ's conquering of the desert (with California being a desert of sorts).
The Mission is well worth a visit considering the number of unique features it is proud to maintain.
