Mission Dolores

Mission Dolores is next door to the larger Mission Dolores Basilica. Both are worthy of a visit. I recommend you schedule the 90-minute “old mission tour” before you arrive. The tour gives an unprecedented perspective of the architecture and history of the oldest intact building in San Francisco.

For example, the walls of this mission are adobe (mud and grasses) and are four feet thick. Likely why this building, very much like the pre-Inca buildings of Chan Chan, Peru both survived large earthquakes.

The garden and cemetery are almost haunting, and assuredly out of place in downtown San Francisco. Rarely do you see such vintage artifacts unless you visit churches in Mexico or South America. I highly recommend going next door to the old mission and attend the Sunday 10:00 a.m.

You will be awed by the Basilica’s architecture and the performance by the famous Mission Dolores Basilica Choir. Mission Dolores is a short drive to Haight Asbury.