La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles

Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles

A photograph of the "Plaza Church" taken by William Henry Jackson between 1890 and 1900. The structure incorporated a four-bell campanario, or "bell wall" prior to being rebuilt in 1861.
Location	Los Angeles, California
Name as founded	Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles
English translation	Our Lady Queen of the Angels
Patron	Mary, mother of Jesus
Founding date	August 18, 1814
Founding priest(s)	Father Luis Gíl y Taboada
Governing body	Roman Catholic Church
Current use	Parish Church
Coordinates	34°03′25″N 118°14′22″W
California Historical Landmark	#144

La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles, or The Church of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels, is a historic Catholic church in the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District, in northern downtown Los Angeles, California.

History

The 'Church of Los Angeles' was founded on August 18, 1814 by Franciscan Fray Luis Gil y Taboada. He placed the cornerstone for the new church in the adobe ruins of the original "sub-station mission" here, the Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles Asistencia (founded 1784), thirty years after it was established to serve the settlement founding Los Angeles Pobladores (original settlers). The completed new structure was dedicated on December 8, 1822. A replacement chapel, named La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles - for Mary, mother of Jesus or "The Church of Our Lady of the Angels" - was rebuilt using materials of the original church in 1861. The title Reina, meaning "Queen," was added later to the name. For years, the little chapel, which collected the nicknames "La Placita" and "Plaza Church," served as the sole Roman Catholic church in emerging immigrant Los Angeles.

20th century

The facility has operated under the auspices of the Claretian Missionary Fathers since 1908.

The building was designated as one of the first three Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in 1962. It has also been designated as a California Historical Landmark .

Recent news

During the 1980s, the church called itself a sanctuary for refugees threatened with deportation to El Salvador. The sanctuary movement continues: On August 19, 2007, immigration activist Elvira Arellano was arrested outside the church and later deported to Mexico.

Gallery

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  The Spring Street entrance of Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles (Our Lady Queen of Angels/La Placita Church -- the main church, not the chapel) located in Downtown Los Angeles on September 15, 2011.

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  The "Old Plaza Church" facing the Plaza, 1869. The brick reservoir in the middle of the Plaza was the original terminus of the Zanja Madre.

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  Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles in early 2007. The structure bore the name Mission Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles for many years.

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  The façade of Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles in 2007.

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  The entrance of Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles (La Placita Church)Chapel located at 535 North Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles on July 20, 2007.

See also

• Los Angeles Plaza Historic District
• Olvera Street
• List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Downtown Los Angeles
• History of Los Angeles, California
• USNS Mission Los Angeles (AO-117) — a Mission Buenaventura class fleet oiler built during World War II.
• Sanctuary movement

External links

• official Our Lady Queen of Angels Church website
• Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles — photo gallery
• Sanctuary Movement — history of New Sanctuary Movement — webpage
• El PUEBLO de LOS ANGELES HIstorical Monument — City of L.A. — official Los Angeles Plaza website.

Notes

• Miller, Henry and Harry Knill (ed.) (2000). California Missions: The Earliest Series of Views Made in 1856. Bellerophon Books, Santa Barbara, CA. ISBN 0-88388-119-5. 
• Ruscin, Terry (1999). Mission Memoirs. Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA. ISBN 0-932653-30-8. 
• "Directory for Missions and other Hispanic Sites". California Mission Studies Association. Archived from the original on 2007-04-02. http://web.archive.org/web/20070402144559/http://www.ca-missions.org/harley.html. Retrieved 2007-05-30.