Mission San Diego de Alcala

The Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala was the first Franciscan mission founded in the Californias, on July 16, 1769.  I stopped by for a couple of hours late in the day recently, to catch the late afternoon sunlight on the buildings.

The front of the church faces southwest, almost straight into the setting sun, which can make for some interesting photos . . . 

. . . especially on those rare occasions when they open the front doors late in the day.

Another cool thing about visiting in December is that the setting sun is in just the right place to cast a shadow of the bells on the wall of the church.

Click here to see more images of the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, in San Diego, California.