11 Most Endangered

Mission San Miguel Arcangel

Year Listed: 2006
Location: , California
Current Status: Favorable
Threat: Deterioration

Latest News

The preservation of this 11 Most site was supported by Save America's Treasures, a program that is facing elimination in the proposed federal budget. Join our campaign to save this component of preservation funding, which has restored 1,100 structures and collections and created 16,000 jobs coast to coast.

St. Michael the Archangel and the painted raredos at Mission San Miguel.

Significance

Midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the historic Camino Real (the Royal Road, now Highway 101) stands Mission San Miguel Arcangel, founded in 1797 as the 16th of California's famed 21 Spanish missions. The present mission church, completed in 1821, is one of California's best-preserved and authentic reminders of the past. Collectively the oldest Euro-American structures in what is now California, the Spanish missions played a critical role in the occupation of Alta California, the northernmost frontier of New Spain, securing souls for the Church and land for the Crown. A superb example of Franciscan Mission architecture and recently designated a National Historic Landmark, Mission San Miguel is famous for its much-photographed and studied exterior and an interior glowing with elaborate murals painted by Salinan Indian converts under the direction of Spanish artist Esteban Munras. The murals are the only surviving example of unrestored Spanish Colonial art in any of the California missions.

Updates

December 25, 2009: Mission San Miguel holds its first Christmas service since the magnitude 6.5 earthquake damaged the building just before Christmas in 2003. Learn more about it here.

October 5, 2009: Six years after an earthquake, Mission San Miguel reopens its doors. Read more.

In 2008, the National Trust and the California Missions Foundation joined forces to raise awareness and financial support for a key part of the overall Mission San Miguel preservation project: stabilization and conservation of the Munras Murals. The Munras Murals Conservation Project is initially funded by a $250,000 challenge grant from the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation. Learn more about how you can help preserve one of California’s art treasures.

Mission San Miguel was severely damaged by the San Simeon earthquake in 2003. In addition to significant structural damage, the earthquake caused extensive damage to the priceless interior wall paintings known as the Munras Murals. The mission was closed to the public and stood susceptible to further damage and possible collapse in the event of another earthquake. Estimates for total cost of all conservation efforts for the mission exceeded $15 million.

Following the 2003 earthquake, Mission San Miguel hired a team of architects, engineers and conservators to develop a preservation plan for the site and engaged partners to begin raising funds for restoring the mission. Phased work to preserve auxiliary parts of the mission complex necessary for religious services and site operation was completed in the initial stages of the project. A long awaited insurance settlement, funding from the Getty Conservation Institute and Save America's Treasures and private foundation support allowed work to begin on the more substantial task of stabilizing and preserving the mission building in 2007. After years of fundraising, planning, and careful craftsmanship, Mission San Miguel may open to the public as early as the end of 2009. Learn More.