Los Angeles and the Mission Revival
For many people, the tradition of church architecture in Los Angeles is seen as being predominantly of the Spanish style before the advent of Modernism. However, this is partly due to the great revival of interest in Mediterranean and Mission architecture which began in the late Nineteenth century. Interest in California’s missions—a time period beginning in 1769 with the founding of the first mission through their demise in the 1840’s—was not only to inspire buildings, but also books, poetry, “romance,” tours to the extant buildings, and eventually scholarship.