Mission Dolores and the California Mission Chain

Mission Dolores (Mission San Francisco de Asís) is not the nearest mission to San Francisco—it is the mission in San Francisco. Founded June 29, 1776, it is the sixth of 21 Spanish missions in Alta California.

The mission closest to San Francisco is Mission Santa Clara de Asís, located in present-day Santa Clara, ~45 miles southeast. The mission chain stretched from San Diego to Sonoma, spaced roughly a day's journey apart.

Mission Dolores survives in the heart of San Francisco's Mission District, its adobe chapel the city's oldest intact building.