Mission Dolores (popular name for Mision San Francisco De Asis)
corner of 16^th and Delores Streets
San Francisco
(415) 621-8203

Mission Delores, the oldest building in San Francisco, is at the spiritual center of its namesake, the Mission District. Founded it 1776, its first mass was held in June, five days before the Declaration of Independence was signed (although formal Church documentation didn’t officially establish the mission until October of that year and the building itself was not completed until 1791).

Masses are still held in the original Mission building, which features 4-foot thick adobe walls, redwood beams lashed together with rawhide to support the roof, and a ceiling painted with vegetable dyes. Amazingly, this building survived the 1906 earthquake, which destroyed much of the surrounding area, including the church next door (which has since been replaced by the Basilica you see today).

Right outside the Mission building is a diorama created for the 1939 World’s Fair, which shows what the Mission District looked like in 1791. Note how the Mission complex dominated the area with a Convento for housing the Franciscans and their guests, a granary, shops, servants quarters, and housing for soldiers and civilians based at the Mission. You will also notice how open the land in the diorama is – a far cry from today’s crowded street.

The Basilica
The Basilica, which was completed in 1918 and replaces the parish church that was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, features stained glass windows depicting Saint Francis of Assisi, patron of both the Mission and the City of San Francisco. The Basilica also has a wood carving of Mater Dolorosa, Our Lady of Sorrows, set high above the main alter in a sun burst pattern.

The Mission has been honored by the Pope twice in the last 50 years. Pope Pius XII first designated the parish church building a Basilica (an honorary Church of the Pope) in 1952. This designation is symbolized by the half-opened red-and-gold umbrella and papal crest on either side of the alter. Thirty-five years later, Pope John Paul II paid a visit to the Mission. This event is documented with photographs along the covered walkway to the left of the Basilica.

The Cemetery
The colonial-era cemetary to the left of the Mission contains the tombstones of Spanish, Mexican, American and other settlers. It also has the graves of more than 5,000 Native Americans who were enslaved in the area. Perhaps the cemetery’s biggest claim to fame is its use as the setting for the graveyard scenes in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film Vertigo.

Visiting the Mission
For information about visiting Mission Dolores, including when services are held, visit the Mission Dolores web site.