Serra Chapel, California's oldest continuously-used building, built in 1782 in Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Serra Chapel was built in 1782 within Mission San Juan Capistrano and is the oldest building in California still in use, serving as a chapel for the mission parish — Father Junipero Serra celebrated Mass here. Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded in 1776 by Padre Junípero Serra and can visited today in Orange County, California, USA. Sited next to the native village of Acjacheme, Mission San Juan Capistrano was the seventh in the chain of 21 religious outposts established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the state of California. The missions were established by Catholic priests of the Franciscan order to evangelize indigenous peoples, backed by the military force of the Spanish Empire — part of expansion and settlement within the Alta California province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Mission was named for Saint John of Capistrano (1386–1456) — a friar, Catholic priest, preacher, theologian, inquisitor, and "Soldier Saint" from the Italian town of Capestrano, Abruzzo. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, then returned to the Catholic church in 1865 by proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln. Restoration efforts date from ~1910. Today, the mission compound serves as a museum.

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Serra Chapel was built in 1782 within Mission San Juan Capistrano and is the oldest building in California still in use, serving as a chapel for the mission parish — Father Junipero Serra celebrated Mass here. Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded in 1776 by Padre Junípero Serra and can visited today in Orange County, California, USA. Sited next to the native village of Acjacheme, Mission San Juan Capistrano was the seventh in the chain of 21 religious outposts established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the state of California. The missions were established by Catholic priests of the Franciscan order to evangelize indigenous peoples, backed by the military force of the Spanish Empire — part of expansion and settlement within the Alta California province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Mission was named for Saint John of Capistrano (1386–1456) — a friar, Catholic priest, preacher, theologian, inquisitor, and "Soldier Saint" from the Italian town of Capestrano, Abruzzo. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, then returned to the Catholic church in 1865 by proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln. Restoration efforts date from ~1910. Today, the mission compound serves as a museum.