 Under the direction of the Franciscan munk, Father Junipero Serra, 21 missions were established in what is now the US state of California. Several of the old churches remain preserved in time while some have been restored or even rebuilt. All are wonderful historic monuments. Father Junipero Serra was born on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, Spain in 1713 and became a munk seventeen years later. At the age of 36 he left for the missions in Mexico and in 1767 he was named Presidente of the missions in both Lower and Upper California. In 1784, after a long and productive life, Father Serra died at the mission in Carmel, Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo, which he himself had founded fourteen years earlier. The Camino Real or "Royal Road", is today closely followed by the US Highway 101. The Missions of California present a vivid contact with the past and offer a feeling of balance, peace and harmony, a feeling which is conveyed in this series of prints. |
