Illustrated Glossary of Terms Relating to California Missions

CMSA Illustrated Glossary
by Sasha Honig
CMSA Website Editor
unless otherwise noted

Please click pictures to see a larger size, then BACK to return to this page.

Mission San Miguel	ADOBE Blocks of adobe clay and water mixed with straw and horse manure, formed in wooden molds, and baked in the sun. Adobe was a common building material at the missions. The average weight of a dried block was approximately 60 pounds. Adobe walls are therefore very heavy and need to be very thick to be strong enough to bear not only their own weight but the weight of the roofs, especially if the roofs are tile. If not protected from moisture, adobe easily melts down. Tile roofs, arcades, coatings of plaster, veneers of fired infiltration.
Mission Santa Barbara	ALTAR A raised platform where offerings or sacrifices are made; the Communion table.
Mission Santa Barbara	ARCADE A roofed walkway, one side composed of a series of arches. An arcade provided a cool place to walk in summertime, was dry in winter, and helped protect adobe walls from direct rainfall.
Asistencia San Antonio de Pala	ASISTENCIA In California, an outlying mission station which had a chapel but no resident missionary priest. Priests from the nearest mission periodically visited to say Mass, conduct marriages, hear Confession, officiate at funerals, etc. An asistencia was planned to eventually become a full-fledged mission; one which actually made that transition was Mission San Rafael. One which did not, but which continues to the present day as a functioning place of worship for local Native Californians, is San Antonio de Pala, east of Mission San Luis Rey.
Mission San Miguel	BEE-HIVE OVEN (Sp. horno) A wood-fired, cone-shaped brick oven, used for baking bread. See "Horno Construction Techniques Used at La Purísima Mission State Historic Park."
Mission Soledad	BELLS (Sp. campanas) Nearly always made of bronze, church bells in colonial California were usually cast in Lima, Peru or in Mexico City. They are usually tuned in a minor rather than major key. Since most modern music utilizes major keys, the tone of colonial bells is quite distinctive and sounds a bit strange to people today. Stories about silver and gold being cast into molten metal for bells are fictitious, as those metals do not impart a good tone or strength to bells. Bells were used for telling time, announcing events, joyful and sad occasions, and even for passing on news. (written by Br. Joe Schwab, O.F.M.)
Mission Santa Barbara	BELL TOWER A tall vertical structure which contains bells; a bell tower is a variety of campanario (see below).
Mission San Gabriel	BUTTRESS A stone or brick structure to support or brace a heavy wall. A series of tall narrow buttresses ending in decorative finials not only support San Gabriel's church wall, but give it a distinctive appearance.
Mission La Purísima Teotihuacan, Central Mexico	CACTUS, PRICKLY PEAR Also known as nopal cactus, Indian fig and mission cactus, these are varieties of the genus Opuntia which is native to Mexico and was brought to California by the missionaries. They planted two basic varieties: Opuntia ficus-indica and the spinier Opuntia tuna, both of which have been cultivated (as contrasted to gathered wild) in Mexico since early Pre-Columbian times. Both are extremely easy to start from cuttings and will thrive in dry, rocky poor soil with little care. They had many uses at the missions: 1) As an additive to the slaked lime-and-sand plaster applied to adobe walls. Nopales produce a prodigious amount of gluey juice when they are boiled or chopped up and let steep for a few days. This juice helped the plaster stick together and adhere to the adobe bricks. 2) As an additive to the paints used in interior decorations. 3) As shrubby or tree-like hedges, up to 10-15 feet high. They were planted in rows around mission gardens and orchards, which helped protect them from the mission horses and cattle. 4).. As a food source. The fruits (Sp. tunas) are sweet, juicy and nutritious and the pads ( nopales) can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Both tunas and nopales continue to be popular items in the Mexican diet today.
Mission San Gabriel	CAMPANARIO A wall with openings for bells (Sp. campanas) A campanario could be anywhere: to the right of the church door, to the left, above it or even at the back of the church (as here at San Gabriel). Life at the mission was regulated by the ringing of the bells: times for prayers, for work or instruction, for meals, and for bed-time. They were also rung to welcome visitors. If the bells were not in a campanario, they were in a tower or perhaps simply hung from a wooden frame at ground level.
Mission San Juan Capistrano	CAMPO SANTO Cemetery, literally "Holy Field," the place where baptized Catholics, including Indian neophytes, were buried. (Scroll down to see the definition of "neophyte.")
Reid Adobe, L.A. County Arboretum	CARRETA Ox-cart. The all-purpose, all-terrain vehicle of choice in the mission era. One use of carretas was to carry hides from missions and ranchos to the coast for shipment by the hide and tallow traders; sailors waiting to load them could hear the squalling of wooden wheels on wooden axles long before they could actually see the carts and their yokes of oxen.
Mission San Juan Bautista	CAT DOOR (Sp. gatera ) A small opening cut into a door to accomodate the comings and goings of resident cats. The first cats were brought to California in 1776 by the Anza expedition at the specific request of the missionaries "who urgently asked...for them, since they are very welcome.. on account of the great abundance of mice." (Fr. Font) The rodent population near missions was exploding in response to new food sources--wheat, oats and corn--being grown in mission fields. The balance of nature was forever changed by the missionaries' introduction of plants and animals foreign to California.
Mission La Purísima Mission La Purísima	CHURRO SHEEP-- & LOOM Now known as Navajo Churros, this breed was originally introduced into Mexico by the Spanish in the 1500s. A hardy and adaptable breed, churros were well-suited to the rough and arid frontier regions of northern Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona, Baja California and Alta California (beginning in the early 1770s). Their main use at the missions seems to have been for their wool (a fine undercoat and a more coarse outer coat) rather than for their meat. Churro fleece was easier for neophytes to work with than the wool of some other breeds might have been: it is less greasy (easier to clean) and it has less of a crimp or kinkiness (easier to card and spin). Using Spanish-style wooden looms, neophytes wove a great variety of goods such as shirts and breech cloths for the men, skirts for the women, and very sturdy blankets. Usually the colors were the natural blacks, whites, browns, and mixtures of these, but sometimes the neophytes used natural dyes (from local plants) or dyes imported from Mexico. Churros became extinct in California in the American period but continued to be important among the Navajo of Arizona and New Mexico into the 20th century. However, by the mid-1900s, they were very nearly extinct even among the Navajo (due to misguided federal programs) and have only recently been rescued as a breed. Mission La Purísima State Historic Park has a small but growing flock.This handsome ram has four horns, an unusual trait in most other breeds but often seen among churros.
Mission San Miguel	CONVENTO Wing of a mission building or the set of rooms in which the missionaries lived; missionaries' living quarters.
Mission Santa Barbara	CRUCIFIX A cross with the image of the crucified Jesus on it.
Baja California	EL CAMINO REAL The Royal highway which began near the tip of Baja California and connected the settlements of Baja and Alta California.
Mission San Antonio	ESPADAÑA A wall which seems to be a continuation upward of the façade but which actually projects above the roofline. It has the visual effect of heightening the building. An espadaña is roughly triangular in shape but with graceful curved or scalloped edges. Openings for bells make an espadaña kind of a campanario.
Site of Estancia San Emigdio	ESTANCIA An outlying mission ranch for the pasturing of ivestock (horses, cattle, sheep, goats, or pigs) or for the cultivation of crops such as wheat, corn, beans, or grapes. Neophyte cowboys or workers lived there in adobe structures which perhaps included a chapel; usually an overseer (mayordomo) lived there as well. Although there might be a chapel, it was not planned that the estancia should become a mission, unlike an asistencia (see above).
Mission San Miguel	EYE OF GOD The wide open eye symbolizes the omniscience and omnipresence of God--i.e. that God sees all, knows all, and His presence is everywhere. The triangle which surrounds the eye refers to the Holy Trinity--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The sun's rays are an additional reference to the omnipresence of God. This example of the Eye of God is at Mission San Miguel and is located prominently above the altar.
Mission San Carlos de Borromeo	FAÇADE The face or front of a building. California mission façades could be simple and completely unadorned (e.g. San Miguel) or more elaborate, as here at Mission San Carlos de Borromeo (Carmel).
Franciscan Coat of Arms at Mission San Rafael	FRANCISCANS Members of the Order of Friars Minor (O.F.M.), an order founded by St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century. The order was the first to establish missions in Mexico after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire and eventually would establish missions in northern Mexico, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Baja California and finally Alta California from 1769-1823. To learn more about the Franciscan order, read about A Day in the Life of a Friar at a California mission, visit the Santa Barbara Province page The Franciscans , or for a comprehensive view of Franciscan history, visit The Franciscan Experience. Today, four California missions are still administered by Franciscans: Missions San Luis Rey, Santa Barbara, San Miguel, and San Antonio.
Mission San Miguel	FRESCO A method of painting on fresh wall plaster; the design is then absorbed into the plaster as it dries and becomes a permanent part of the wall. When the plaster flakes off, the design is in danger of being lost as well. The plant designs of this fresco at Mission San Miguel include the pomegranate, a symbol of the Jewish priesthood and of the unity of the Roman Catholic church (the many seeds within one fruit), fertility (the large number of seeds), and the blood of Christ (the rich red of pomegranate juice). The pomegranate and other designs on this wall are reminders that the California landscape was being drastically transformed by the introduction of a large number of European or Mexican plants.
Mission San Miguel	FRIEZE A decorative band usually placed along the top of a wall. Stencils cut from cow hides were used by workers to create repeated patterns such as this Greek key or stepped fret pattern.
Mission San Luis Rey	GARGOYLE A waterspout carved in the shape of a fantastic or grotesque creature. At Mission San Luis Rey, water gushed through the mouth of this gargoyle into the laundry (lavandería) and into a trough past the working women. Mission Santa Barbara's lavandería features a more representational waterspout in the shape of a bear.
Franciscan Fr. Chris Tomatis Mission San Miguel.	HABIT The customary clothing worn by members of religious Orders in the Catholic Church, often called (incorrectly) a robe. The Franciscan Order in Serra's time wore the same type of habit as you see here although it would have been gray in those days rather than brown. The habit is still worn by Franciscans at Missions San Miguel, Santa Barbara, San Antonio, and San Luis Rey and by the Capuchin Franciscans at Mission Santa Inés (the Capuchin habit being distinguished by the larger size of its hood).
Mission San Luis Rey	LAVANDERÍA Laundry
Moravian Pottery Works Doylestown, PA	MISSION REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE An architectural style from the late 1800s which borrowed design elements such as arcades, tile roofs, remates, etc. from California's Franciscan missions. The style may be seen throughout California (eg. many turn-of-the-century Southern Pacific railroad stations) and in scattered locations in the Midwest and East. For example, the Moravian Pottery Works (see photo left) incorporated these elements: an arcade, buttresses (a reference to San Gabriel), and a remate (reminiscent of San Luis Rey).
Mission Santa Barbara	NAVE The central space in a church which leads from the entrance to the altar. Unlike congregation members today who sit in neat rows of benches or pews, the Native American converts at the missions stood or sat on the floor.
Neophytes' Names on Monument at Mission San Francisco de Solano	NEOPHYTE A religious convert; a newly baptized mission Indian, (Sp. neofita). Baptism had profound cultural implications for a neophyte, of which adopting a new religion was only one part. The neophyte would also be required to learn agriculture, carpentry, masonry, weaving, and many other new vocational skills; he or she would be expected to adopt new modes of dress as well as new ideas of marriage, of family relationships, of political organization and more. Missionaries believed that with baptism and participation in the discipline of life in a mission community, a neophyte would be setting foot on a path toward the culture of Europeanized gente de razon ("people of reason"). Undesirable to the missionary way of thinking was for Indians to remain in their traditional hunting-gathering, non-Christian cultures; such Indians were called gente sin razon ("people without reason") by the Spanish.
Mission Santa Barbara	PEDIMENT A triangular architectural feature or decoration over a doorway or window.
President General Mariano Payeras Mission La Purísima	PRESIDENT GENERAL Head administrator of the Franciscan mission chain in California; sometimes also called Father President. The first was Junípero Serra, founder of nine missions between 1769 and1784 His successor, F ermín de Lasuén (in office 1785-1803), founded the next nine. Three more missions were founded in later years: one by Estevan Tapis (term of office: 1803-12), one by Mariano Payeras (1815-19) , and one during the second presidency of José Señan (1820-23) although without his approval. This was San Francisco Solano (in Sonoma), the only one founded during the Mexican period (1821-48). The bitter controversy surrounding its foundation is symptomatic of the crumbling authority of the Presidents-General in this era. By 1850, the missions had been broken up into private property and there were no more Presidents-General.
Mission San Luis Rey	REMATE Similar to an espadaña but does not contain openings for bells. A remate may be plain, as at Mission San Diego, or it may contain a niche for an image of a saint or other statue as here at Mission San Luis Rey. The Royal Presidial Chapel of Monterey is also an example of a remate.
Mission San Miguel	ROSTRUM and TESTER Pulpit and overhead canopy. The dove hanging from the canopy symbolizes the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. The canopy served as a sounding board or resonator, helping to project the priest's voice to the congregation.
Museum, Mission San José	SCONCE A hanging or wall-mounted candle holder usually with a mirror to reflect the light. Missions made their own candles from cattle tallow.
Lavandería, Mission San Luis Rey	TERRA COTTA Hard fired clay, brownish-orange in color, used for pottery, roofing, floor tiles (ladrillos), and bricks. Here at the San Luis Rey lavandería neophytes scrubbed their clothes on these ladrillos, wearing circular depressions into them.
Mission San Antonio	TILE ROOF Made of clay tiles (Sp. tejas ) shaped over log molds (not over Indian women's thighs as legend has it). The tiles were then fired in a kiln which made them hard and, most importantly, weatherproof. They also were fireproof, useful in case of Indian attack by fire-arrow, and since they were resistant to rotting, they have lasted for many decades. For example, tiles on the roof of the church of Mission San Miguel have been there since the structure was built in the early 1800s. (A black cat is patrolling the roof of Mission San Antonio in this picture. See the entry on CAT DOOR for more on cats at the missions.)
Mission San Juan Capistrano	VIGAS Ceiling beams or rafters made from single logs or poles to support the ceiling and roof. The width of a church or room was, therefore, limited by the length of trees that could be lumbered in the vicinity and hauled to the mission.
Mission La Purísima	ZANJA An irrigation ditch. Grain fields, orchards, and vegetable gardens were established around each mission along with an extensive system of reservoirs and ditches. Otherwise, agriculture would not have been successful and the missions could not have achieved an important aim of being able to feed themselves. Zanjas also brought water for domestic purposes, and at several missions water was channelled into mills for grinding grain (e.g. San Antonio) or the fulling (shrinking) of wool (e.g. Santa Inés). Presidios and pueblos had their own water distribution systems, e.g. in the Los Angeles area where the Zanja Madre brought water from the Los Angeles River to the pueblo. Acequia was another word for ditch. Both acequia and zanja are words of Arabic origin, reflecting the fact that Spaniards learned much about irrigation from Moslem occupiers of Spain from 711 to 1492.