Christian Mission in San Juan Capistrano features a historical brick with mortar building topped with a single wooden cross. The mission was founded in 1776, by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order. Named for Saint John of Capistrano, a 14th-century theologian and `warrior priest` who resided in the Abruzzo region of Italy, San Juan Capistrano has the distinction of being home to the oldest building in California still in use, a chapel built in 1782. Known alternately as `Serra`s Chapel` and `Father Serra`s Church,` it is the only extant structure where it has been documented that Junipero Serra celebrated Mass.
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