The architecture of Upper California’s missions. A tool in production and spiritual control

Abstract

The twenty-one missions in Upper California were the first test of shared community life by Spaniards and the native population there. The presence of these missions contributed to the emergence of new types of architecture and to big social changes. The purpose of this paper is to analyse some important features of this architecture­ that largely influenced the latter's role as a tool in evangelization and in controlling the native population. The methodology that was used, supported by an extensive bibliography and documentary sources, consisted of an analysis of plans, paintings and photographs from different eras, combined with fieldwork at some missions.

Among other results, we highlight the idea that the missions' design was determined by religious and production activities, giving priority, on the one hand, to the religious community's wellbeing over that of the native population and, on the other, to the use of inner areas as opposed to outer ones. Secularization, in 1833, led to a halt in the missions' activities, plunging them into a state of neglect which persisted through to the beginning of restoration work in the 20th century. These missions are now tourist and cultural attractions, visited by tourists and students who interpret the early history of a state characterized by its colonization.