Mission San Juan Bautista was founded on June 24, 1797 by Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, the fifteenth mission in the California mission chain. It is named for St. John the Baptist. It is located in the town of San Juan Bautista, in San Benito County. The town grew up around the mission. Barracks for soldiers, a nunnery, the Castro House and other buildings were constructed around a large grassy plaza in front of the church and can be seen today in their original form. The town of San Juan Bautista grew rapidly during the California Gold Rush and continues to be a thriving community today.
Mission San Juan Bautista has served mass daily since 1797, so there never was much of a rebirth. The mission suffered extensive damage in the earthquakes of 1800 and 1906. The mission was restored initially 1884 and then again in 1949 with funding from the Hearst Foundation.
The mission and its grounds were prominently in the 1958 Paramount Pictures film Vertigo (associate producer Herbert Coleman's daughter Judy Lanini suggested the Mission as a filming location). The mission originally had a steeple that was demolished following a fire, so the studio added a "bell tower" using scale models, matte paintings, and trick photography.
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