Central Coast - Coastal California - page 698

San Juan Bautista
In atmospheric old San Juan Bautista, where you can practically hear the whispers of the
past, California's 15th mission is fronted by the state's only original Spanish plaza remain-
ing. In 1876 the railroad bypassed the town, which has been a sleepy backwater ever since.
Along 3rd St, evocative historic buildings mostly shelter antiques shops and petite garden
restaurants. Hark! That cock you hear crowing is one of the town's roosters, which are al-
lowed by tradition to stroll the streets at will.
Sights
Mission San Juan Bautista CHURCH
( 831-623-4528; www.oldmissionsjb.org ; 406 2nd St; adult/child 5-17yr $4/2; 9:30am-4:30pm)
Founded in 1797, this mission claims the largest church among California's original 21
missions. Unknowingly built directly atop the San Andreas Fault, the mission has been
rocked by earthquakes. Bells hanging in the tower today include chimes that were
salvaged after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake toppled the original mission. Scenes
from Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Vertigo were shot here, although the bell tower in the
movie's climactic scene was just a special effect.
Below the mission cemetery, you can spy a section of El Camino Real, the Spanish co-
lonial road built to link California's first missions.
San Juan Bautista State Historic Park PARK
( 831-623-4881; www.parks.ca.gov ; 2nd St, btwn Mariposa & Washington Sts; museum entry adult/
child $3/free; 10am-4:30pm Tue-Sun)
Buildings around the old Spanish plaza opposite the mission anchor this small historical
park. Cavernous stables hint at San Juan Bautista in its 1860s heyday as a stagecoach stop.
The 1859 Plaza Hotel , which started life as a single-story adobe building, now houses a
little historical museum. Next door to the hotel, the Castro-Breen Adobe once belonged
to Mexican general and governor José Castro. In 1848 it was bought by the Breen family,
survivors of the Donner Party disaster.