Do you have packets for students to help with reports?

Yes! Please see the Student Packets in our gift shop.

When was the Santa Barbara Mission built?

The Santa Barbara Mission was founded on December 4, 1786 by Padre Fermin Francisco de Lasuen. The buildings were constructed over a period of many years. The oldest still standing is the back row of adobe rooms in the museum wing which was constructed in the 1790s. The front rooms of this wing, as you enter the building, were built of stone in 1806. The portico was added in 1811.

There have been several churches on the site. The present church was built from 1812 to 1820 to replace the church destroyed in the earthquake of 1812. Baroque art, both statues and paintings, were saved from the earlier church and put back in the present neo-classical building. Therefore, most of the art in the current Mission church is actually older than the structure.

Where are the Indians of the Mission buried?

There are several thousand Chumash, as well as many early settlers and Franciscan padres, buried in the cemetery at Santa Barbara Mission. The Governor of California (Don Jose Figueroa), the first Bishop of California (Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno), the Presidio Commandant (Don Jose Antonio De La Guerra y Noriega) and his family, and several Franciscan missionaries are buried in a crypt under the floor of the church.

Where is Karana of "Island of the Blue Dolphins" buried?

The Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island, the subject of the book "Island of the Blue Dolphins," is buried somewhere in the cemetery. Graves were not marked in the Spanish era and only came into fashion in the American period. So no one put a marker on the grave of the girl left alone for 18 years on San Nicholas Island. We have a plaque dedicated to her on the tower wall near the cemetery exit. She was baptized Juana Maria after her rescue, but author Scott O'Dell made up the name Karana for his fictionalized account of her life which is read by most California school children.

Are the artifacts and artworks original to the Mission?

The paintings, statues and artifacts are original except for the modern statuary in the two side chapels of the church. Original period art includes the original church altar made by Chumash people and inlaid with abalone, statues behind the main altar of the church that were brought to Old Mission Santa Barbara in the late 1700s, Chumash tools, pottery, and baskets on display in the museum, Chinese silk vestments, numerous items made of gold and silver, and oil paintings and furniture.

Where did the works of art come from?

The Santa Barbara Mission is a monument to the cultural diversity of California's heritage. Most of the paintings and statuary were made in Mexico, Spain, and Peru during the colonial period, and early Manila Galleons and China Clippers brought Asian influence. Consequently, our museum has items such as a Philippine crucifix and Chinese silk vestments and porcelain alongside English-made china, Mexican majolica (pottery), and Chumash basketry. The Moorish (African) cultural influences are clearly visible in the architecture.

How old are the fountain and lavanderia?

These features were constructed in 1808 as part of the Mission's extensive water system which included a dam located 2 miles up Mission Creek in today's Botanic Garden. An aqueduct of tile lined channels brought water to a reservoir opposite the Mission where it passed through a filter house and eventually fed a mill. The ruins of these structures can be seen in Mission Historic Park opposite the Mission cemetery. The fountain was the fresh water source for the Chumash village. The water fed the lavanderia (clothes washing trough) below the fountain.