Mission Inn - Riverside
by Joseph Hollingsworth
Title
Mission Inn - Riverside
Artist
Joseph Hollingsworth
Medium
Photograph - Digital
Description
The Mission Inn, now known as The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, is a historic landmark hotel in downtown Riverside, California. Although a composite of many architectural styles, it is generally considered the largest Mission Revival Style building in the United States. Mission Inn Hotel & Spa is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
Twenty one missions were built in southern California as part of the Spanish colonisation of the eighteenth century, from San Diego de Alcalá in the south - the earliest to be constructed, in 1769 - to San Francisco de Solano in the north. All have a similar layout centered on a large whitewashed church next to an enclosed quadrangle with various other buildings for storage, housing, construction, etc, and served as bases from which to explore the surrounding territory and spread Christianity to the native American Indians. Both these needs declined after the mid nineteenth century after which most of the California missions fell into disuse. Those that remained functional were subject to rebuilding and additions over the years, and extensive restoration has taken place at some of the others so in many cases little of the original structure remains, however the buildings still look authentic and are now focal points for tourism as well as still being used for regular Catholic church services. Most have museums and large gardens filled with exotic plants, and stage religious and other events. All missions are within a few miles of the old road known as El Camino Real, the majority of which is now US 101, and are generally found in suburban settings.
Uploaded
September 18th, 2015
Statistics
Viewed 336 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/26/2024 at 2:41 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
