Hometown Heritage

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, in San Diego Rachel Mahoney

This week I visited Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, in San Diego, California, USA.� I am a native San Diegan and I�ve been exploring and falling deeper in love with San Diego my whole life.� My visit to �The San Diego Mission��as locals refer to it�reinforced my admiration and pride for my hometown.

San Diego is known for its beaches, Naval presence, Comi-Con, relaxed pace of life, and its culturally diverse origins. Historians categorize San Diego�s history into four major periods: (1) The Native American Period, (2) The Spanish Period, (3) The Mexican Period, and (4) The American Period (current). This region�s earliest known inhabitants were the native San Dieguito, La Jolla, and Kumeyaay peoples. In the mid sixteenth century Portuguese-Spanish mariner Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed in what is now San Diego Bay and claimed the region for Spain.� In the ensuing decades, the Spanish established two settlements, one being Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala in 1769, which is now a National Historical landmark. Mission Basilica is the first mission and first church in California, and has thusly been deemed by state historians �the birthplace of Christianity in the far west.�

Instruction about California�s missions is standard curriculum in most public schools in San Diego, including the school I attended.� Consequently, I grew up with a fond appreciation for the historical sites in my city and a curiosity about what life was like when they were still inhabited. During my visit this week, I toured the lush grounds of Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, which are cloaked in dusty indigenous plants and Southern California sunshine. Once I summited the mission�s steep driveway the contrasting colors and textures of its fa�ade struck me: crisp whitewashed adobe walls, spiky tenacious Aloe Vera and bougainvillea plants, patina bells, rusted wrought iron gates, and sun-worn terracotta roof tiles.� I felt instantly transported to the days of Cabrillo.

I snapped my #GoUNESCOselfie pictures on my phone.� The first was handheld and the second was taken using a self-timer app and propping my phone on the tailgate of my truck.� Initially I felt presumptuous and silly to make myself the focal point of my photos because the real beauty and attention belonged to the mission in the background.� Then, after a passerby asked about the GoUNESCO emblem I was holing up, I swelled with pride because I realized that my little hometown Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala ranks up there with the world�s heritage sites.

To find out more about the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, please visit: http://www.missionsandiego.com/

To find out more about San Diego, or to see where I did my research, please visit:

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/front-page

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/timeline/timeline1.htm

https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/67october/began.htm

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