Hello and welcome to this Carmel-by-the-Sea Mission Basilica, Museums and Grounds Walking Tour. I’m Lynn and I have been visiting Carmel since 1964 and lived there full time for many years. While I resided in Carmel, I was an active Carmel Mission parishioner and member of the Carmel Mission Foundation. This tour is a collaboration between myself and Dale Byrne, the founder of Carmel Cares, a volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping Carmel beautiful, safe, and inviting we are both dedicated to keeping Carmel-by-the-Sea a unique Village in a Forest and excited to share our knowledge of its history and illustrious past with visitors and residents alike.
On today’s walking tour you will visit the Carmel Mission Basilica, its museums, courtyards, grounds and cemetery. Along the way you will learn about the Rumsien Native people who first inhabited this area, Fr. Junipero Serra, as well as early California and Mission history.
You should be standing by the wall under the covered portico in front of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. This chapel faces Rio Road and is between the Rectory and the Gift Store. Feel free to take a seat on the wall while I introduce the tour.
This tour will weave together the intriguing story of this area, taking you back to the time when the Ramsien inhabited this location, up through the establishment, growth, decline and subsequent renovation of the Carmel Mission. Before we set off on our tour, let me start with a little historical background which I think will be helpful.
Before the Spaniards arrived in Central California, this area had the densest Native American population north of Mexico. The people that lived here were the Rumsien, one of eight tribes of the Ohlone native people.
In 1542, Spanish explorer Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo became the first European to visit what would later become Monterey Bay. Along the coast Cabrillo sighted an abundance of pine trees and named the area Bahia de Los Pinos or Bay of the Pines.
Sixty years later, in 1602, Spanish explorer, Sebastian Vizcaino arrived at Bahia de Los Pinos, and his men built a shelter under a great oak where the three Carmelite friars who accompanied him on this expedition, celebrated Mass. You will have the opportunity to see a piece of this oak tree in the Convento Museum later on this tour.
Vizcaino continued his exploration of the area and found another good harbor just over the hill at the mouth of a small river, near what would be come Carmel-by-the-Sea. In honor of the Carmelite friars, he named this river El Rio Carmelo. Vizcaino claimed the region for Spain and renamed the area Bahia de Monterrey in honor of the Count of Monterrey, the viceroy to New Spain.
It would be another 160 plus years before Spain would be back in Monterey Bay. That year was 1769, when Gaspar de Portola led the first recorded European land entry expedition into the interior of what would become the United States of America. Portola was charged with establishing colonies and presidios. Fr. Junipero Serra was to establish the missions.
The first mission was built in San Diego in 1769. Fr. Serra established the second mission, Mission San Carlos de Borromeo, in Monterey on June 3, 1770. One year later, this mission now commonly known as Carmel Mission, was moved to its present location here by the El Rio Carmelo, or Carmel River.
Over the course of the next quarter-century seven churches would be erected on this location. The final church, completed in 1797, was made of Santa Lucia sandstone and is the foundation of the Basilica church you will tour today.
Now let me call your attention to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. This part of Carmel Mission dates to 1774. It incorporates what were portions of the original mission guest quarters, as well as a blacksmith shop. The exposed wall in front of you is an original adobe wall from that time period.
To your right, take note of the bronze life size bas-relief of St. Anthony and the Child Jesus on the wall. This was created by Carmel sculptor Steven Whyte and placed here in 2009.
The Blessed Sacrament Chapel itself was built in 1947 and made possible by Carl Benzberg, who donated the funds in memory of his mother Ann Sutter. Her grave is marked in front of the altar.
The beams and walls inside the chapel were hand painted by Harry Downie to reflect the earliest period of Mission artistic development when native artisans would have painted the walls under the direction of the padres. We will learn more about Harry Downie later on this tour.
The Stations of the Cross that line the walls of the chapel were also designed by Downie and painted by American artist Mark Adams. Downie also incorporated a 13th century wooden panel of the Twelve Apostles which may be found hanging over the altar.
The Blessed Sacrament Chapel is open only during Mass on Wednesday through Friday at 12 noon. If you happen to be visiting during this time, you might want to step inside. But please be quiet and reverent.
Once you have finished proceed to the kiosk in front of the Mission Gift Shop. It is in the parking area to the right of the chapel. Press the “I am here” button when you are at the kiosk.
