building and builders in hispanic california, 1769-1848 by dr. rubén g. mendoza, phd

Building and Builders in Hispanic California, 1769-1848

Mission San Carlos Borromeo, Carmel, California – July 17, 2013

Presented by

RUBEN G. MENDOZA, PhD, RPA, Project Archaeologist

Terribilis est locus iste: hic domus Dei est, et porta coeli; et vocabitur aula Dei. ["Awesome is this place: it is the house of God, and the gate of Heaven; and it shall be called the court of God."]”

The Roman

Missal

San Juan Bautista, La Virgen, and San Francisco layout the foundations of the church, Iglesia de San Francisco, Chile.

Historical Antecedents

Juan Gerson’s Heavenly Kingdom at Tecamachalco, Mexico. Photo

courtesy Jaime Lara.

Model of King Solomon temple – the archetype for the iconography of the millennial kingdom.

Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de María, México City, México (1573-1813).

San Estevan Rey, Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico. Constructed in 1629, this church integrates an equinox-based azimuth alignment. Photo © Ruben G. Mendoza, 1995.

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña, San Antonio, Texas, 1731.

Santiago Jalpan, Querétaro, México (1751-1758).

Las Misiones de Alta California

The site of Mission San Carlos Borromeo evolved through the construction of seven churches, five of which were oriented to the summer solstice sunrise event. Fray Serra’s personal bible incorporates depictions of the Heavenly Kingdom.

Epiphany illumination of June 8th as seen from choir loft, San Carlos Borromeo, Carmel, CA.Photo © Ruben G. Mendoza, 2012.

Architectonic Features

Architecture Through Time / Mission San Juan Bautista, California. Map plan by Ruben G. Mendoza / Emily Nisbet, 2012.

Map plan, Nuestra Señora La Purisima Concepcion (Vieja), Lompoc, CA. California State Parks.

La fachada or façade of Mission San Miguel Arcangel, California.

Mission church of 1825, Santa Clara de Asís. Note icon of Holy Spirit at apex of façade with rays of light streaming downward. University of Santa Clara Archives image, 2003.

First light at the Presidio chapel of Santa Barbara, California. Note sunlight descending on window at circa 7:14 am on December 23rd of 2008. Photos © Ruben G. Mendoza, 2008.

CyArk 3D cutaways of Mission San Juan Bautista, California.

Oculus or “traga luz” in façade of church at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, California. Photo © Ruben G. Mendoza, 2004.

Longitudinal section through the Santuario at Chimayo, New Mexico, built between 1814 and 1816, showing the clearstory window.

The altar screen or reredos of the Santuario at Chimayo, New Mexico receiving natural light from a clerestory window.

Quarai Mission, New Mexico.

Window port at apex of dome within church at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, California. Photo © Ruben G. Mendoza, 2004.

Virtual reconstruction of the nave and arcade within the church at Old Mission San Juan Bautista. 3D animation graphics by Ruben Mendoza, Francisco Rivas, and Luis

Alejandre, 2008.

Chapel interior with mid-afternoon sunlight, Presidio of Santa Barbara, California. Photo © Ruben G. Mendoza, 2004.

The bell wall or campanario of Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, California.

The bell wall or campanario of Mission San Ines, California.

Tile making form from Mission San Fernando, California.

Corinthian / Egyptian-like columns of the retablo mayor or reredos of Mission San Miguel Arcangel, California.

The River of Life motif in the redwood plank door of the Guadalupe Chapel, San Juan Bautista, California.

The plaza-side portada or arcade of Mission San Juan Bautista, California.

The side-aisle and nave of Mission San Juan Bautista, California.

The courtyard or patio-side arcade and church of Mission San Miguel Arcangel, California.

Fire tile or ladrillos used in the flooring and doorway portadas at Mission San Juan Bautista, California.

El Presidio Real de San Carlos de Monterey

The carved stone façade of the Royal Presidio Chapel or San Carlos Cathedral has been designated a registered National Historic Landmark.

Recent archaeological investigations at the Royal Presidio Chapel serve to confirm that Jose Cardero’s 1791 illustration was accurate and well proportioned. This and related facts lend credence to the likelihood that Cardero employed a Camera Lucida to produce his images. Image courtesy of the Archives of the Diocese of Monterey.

Jose Cardero sketch depicting thatched-roof 2nd Chapel of 1771-72, with scaffolding of 3rd Chapel and Padre’s Quarters in background. Note sacristy lean-to structure to the right of the cross standing at the northwest corner of 2nd Chapel. View south/southwest, circa 1791. Courtesy RPC Archives.

View to the southwest of the Royal Presidio Chapel of Monterey in 1847. Note Baptistery of 1810 at southeast wall of nave. Photo Courtesy RPC Archives of the Diocese of Monterey.

On July 23rd of 2008 the RPC Project Manager informed me via cell phone that contractors had inadvertently exposed boulders at the forefront of the Chapel while removing brick pavers. My crew and I immediately implemented measures to fully document the find and mitigate further damage to what I believed to constitute remains of the as yet unexplored 2nd Chapel.

By the end of the first day of exploratory exposures of the foundation footings of the 2nd Chapel, a granite and basalt boulder pavement overlain with Roman Mortar – consisting of a lime, gravel, and sand floor composite – was identified. By the third day, the discovery became a front page media story.

The granite and blue basalt boulder pavement constituting the substrate of the 2nd Chapel floor included non-native stone that may have been culled from a ship’s ballast stones. The bronze higa (lower right) was recovered from the southeast corner of the pavement so noted.

The excavation of the sanctuary area of the 2nd Chapel was conducted under a compliance archaeology mandate, and salvage effort, intended to document and mitigate damage to the structure in question. Contractors ultimately opted to avoid grading away the Chapel footings.

Upon mapping the crypt’s location within the overall plan of the Royal Presidio Chapel, it soon became apparent that pre-1858 construction of said crypt required excavation through the Terrace 1 feature located beneath the north walls of the east and west arms of the Transept .

Detail of Trench Plan – West Side – with numbered features associated with the Missionary’s Quarters.

San Carlos Cathedral

Media coverage, including the expert commentaries by Center for Spanish Colonial Archaeology archaeologist Jack Williams, narrowly averted the potential destruction of the 2nd Chapel of 1771-72.

In addition to determining that the Sacristy was constructed of adobe blocks composed from dark trash midden clays, the exterior facing of the nave (or Sacristy east interior wall face)at this location was composed of a dark lime-mud mixture.

Both subsurface and vertical archaeology findings went far in the interpretation of the 1810-11 Sacristy. The ridge-pole of the Sacristy was anchored to the west exterior face of the Chapel nave.

The black floral pattern of the lower register constitutes the second major painting scheme to appear, and was found to have been applied to the Portadas installed in circa 1810.

In order to access the crypt it was first necessary to circumvent the decrepit wooden ladder left behind during the 1942 retrofit. Though I offered CSU Monterey Bay student Adrian Lopez the opportunity to enter the crypt before me, his startled response was: “No, you go first!” Note boveda or barrel vault to far left. Sealed wall to right of ladder is thought to have been original entry to crypt.

Upon entering the crypt, eight chambers – seven replete with burials -- came into view at the north wall. Ominously, the crypt to the far right remains available for yet another occupant.

This research has determined that the crypt was constructed some time prior to the 1858 Transept retrofit. A vault or boveda permitted the enclosure of the pre-existing chamber.

Top: Sculpted shale candle stand.

Right: Sculpted shale crucifix.

The unused crypt.

Left: Remains of the plank ceiling consisting of tablas.

Because the RPC Project team sought information on whether or not the crypt floor was intact, or whether mud intrusion had filled what constituted the original floor, an archaeological assessment was undertaken. Within ten centimeters of the surface, the project identified the shale bedrock flooring of the chamber and its artifacts.

On January 25th of 2009, the Royal Presidio Chapel was re-dedicated and opened to the public…in a ceremony held on the 214th anniversary of the original dedication of this most historic chapel in Monterey.

On October 22nd of 2009, the centerpiece of the façade of the Royal Presidio Chapel was returned to its rightful place within the nicho after a 2.5 year conservation treatment.

La Guadalupana is the preeminent icon of Marian devotion in the Americas. This likeness of her, sculpted under the supervision of Mexico City master mason Manuel Ruiz in the 1790s, constitutes the oldest such sculpted monument in California and the West.

During the course of archaeological monitoring, a host of secondary discoveries were made in situ. Among such findings, the re-discovery of the 1905 marble commemorative marker that once marked the location of the “Junipero Oak” was paramount.

An Architectural Evolution of San Juan Bautista

SJB Archaeology Base Map, 2009

Plans by Jeff Lorentz of WWD. Surveys by Joe James of WWD& Ruben G. Mendoza, 1995-2009

Phase 01: 1797

Quadrangle map plan by Ruben G . Mendoza, 2010. Based on surveys by Joe James of WWD & Ruben G. Mendoza, 1995-2009. AutoCad base map prepared by Jeff Lorentz of WWD Engineering.

Phase 02: 1798


Phase 03: 1800-1801



Phase 04: 1801-1802

Phase 05: 1803


Phase 06: 1809


Phase 07: 1810-1812


Phase 08: 1812-1813


Phase 09: 1812-1816


Phases 01-09: 1797-1816


Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad

Identification of altar de La Iglesia de la Mision de la Dolorisima Soledad.

Rediscovery of Soledad Church west wall courtyard doorway and teja-tile footing fill/stucco.

Archaeological investigations included a number of key discoveries regarding architectural practice in the California missions. Among these, the recycling of teja roof tiles as a rodent barrier in adobe walls.

The Black Plat of 1859 provides indications for the location of the Neophyte Housing Area. Note “Ruins of Adobe Houses” at Section 5.

Illustration depicting Neophyte housing in Bay Area of northern California.

The Neophyte Housing Area digs

Survey probe and field mapping of subsurface features in the Neophyte Housing Area. The tilled fields posed a significant challenge in the search for the buried housing area.

This ground stone mano was recovered from within a Neophyte Housing Area room block.

Recovery of the foundation footings of the Soldiers’ Quarters of circa 1805. Current evidence indicates that the east end of the building was obliterated some years ago.

The Soldiers’ Quarters

Soledad Neophyte Housing Area room block trench cross section.

Soledad GPS survey of Neophyte Housing relative to Mission Quadrangle.

Soledad Neophyte Housing Area field maps.

Archaeology and primary resource documents resulted in the discovery of the Neophyte Housing Area at Mission Soledad. Map plan © Ruben G. Mendoza, 2010-12. Illustration by Emily Nisbet, 2012.

Top: Artists conception of the Mission casco or quadrangle as seen from the Neophyte Housing Area at Mission Soledad based on Mendoza 2012. Illustration after Oriana Day by Emily Nisbet, 2012.

Left: California Indian muleteer, Bancroft Library

building and builders in hispanic california, 1769-1848 by dr. rubén g. mendoza, phd

Education

mission san fernando

san antonio

mission church

mission san luis rey

time mission san juan

old mission san juan

campanario of mission

hispanic california