The fourth established mission out of an impressive 21 Spanish missions in California, the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel is an ancient historical landmark originally founded by Catholic Spanish missionary Junipero Serra in 1771. Colloquially regarded as the “godmother of the pueblo of Los Angeles”, the mission served as the base from which the missionaries to the pueblo-turned-city of Los Angeles were sent.

Named after the archangel St. Gabriel, the mission was said to have been met with initial resistance from the indigenous native Indians until one of the priests displayed a magnificent painting of "Our Lady of Sorrows", which so moved the natives that they immediately made peace with the Spanish missionaries. This famed 300-year old painting still hangs near the old high altar in the mission’s sanctuary. With over 25,000 baptisms conducted during the mission’s heyday from 1771 to 1834, the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel was the most prolific of all the missions before the widespread secularization that occurred in 1834. Today, the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel functions as a working Roman Catholic church, and its beautifully designed Moorish-style building houses a museum home to a plethora of informative displays and fascinating relics depicting the history behind the city and its religion.