The Missions of Monterey Honored in New Book

Dec. 18, 2012 - PRLog -- New to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Missions of Monterey by local author Robert A. Bellezza. This pictorial history boasts more than 200 vintage images and provides readers with a unique opportunity to reconnect with the history that shaped their community.

The storm-tossed caravel ship San Salvador passed the coastline of Point Pinos in 1542 and propelled Portuguese shipwright and sailor Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo into history with the discovery of Alta California for the Spanish crown. An enduring legacy followed with Fr. Junipero Serra’s landing in San Diego and the founding of his first mission in 1769. Into Alta California entered explorers, soldiers, and Franciscan missionaries bringing their culture, faith and intent to colonize the New World.

Father Serra’s 1770 journey to Monterey, carefully planned in Mexico City, involved the arrival of a few hundred intrepid travelers over land and sea to secure Alta California’s new capital. A small group consecrated Mission San Carlos de Borromeo in the pine-forested flat of New Spain’s presidio. The momentum of the missions over the next 80 years resulted in California’s statehood and in the raising of the American flag in Monterey by 1850.

Highlights of Missions of Monterey include:
•   The Treasure of Monterey: Mission San Carlos Borroméo del Rio Carmelo
•   Place of Perfect Peace: Mission San Antonio de Padua
•   Solace of Soledad: Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
•   San Carlos Cathedral: La Capilla Real
•   Eastern Exposure: Mission San Juan Bautista
•   Missions Past and Present: Touring El Camino Real

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.