The Spiritual Side of Busy Los Angeles

By Greg Baker


Just as could be expected, Los Angeles religious landmarks are as varied as the city itself. Whether steeped in history and the cultures that formed the town or innovative and as modern as the 21st century, religious sites in Los Angeles are as varied as the inhabitants.

Mission San Gabriel Arcangel

The history of L. A. centers round the 1771 Mission San Gabriel, the 4th of the 21 missions that began the settlement of the state of California. This sizeable adobe complicated became the most wealthy of all the California missions till it passed from the Franciscans to the Mexican state and back to the church again in the mid-l800s. The graveyard was the first in Los Angeles county, and the mission itself offers a look at what life was like in extraordinarily early California history.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

The seat of the Archdiocese of L. A. has been arguable since the day the design was exposed for being stern and non-traditional. Built of concrete, its angular exterior and brilliant alabaster-lighted interior attract visitors from all over the world. The product of a Spanish designer and one or two local artists, the building, its impressive bronze doors, and interior tapestries make it one of the hottest religious landmarks in Los Angeles.

Monastery of the Angels

An operating, cloistered priory of Dominican nuns, the building and grounds attract tourists who head to buy the nuns ' famous pumpkin bread. Like many religious sites in L. A. , it is located in the middle of a busy home neighborhood, where visitors find it a respite from the noise and perplexity of the town and come to hope and meditate in the chapel or the quiet gardens.

Million Dollar Theater

One of the city's first and most opulent movie theaters was once one of Los Angeles non secular landmarks, a Mexican church. It has allegedly returned, at least part of the time, to its part in the Hispanic community as a theater. It was initially one of Sid Grauman's brilliant, if somewhat tasteless, theater creations.

Breed Street Shul

Also known as Breed Street Synagogue, this Orthodox congregation began in a frame building in 1915, made a new brick structure in 1923, and blossomed as the biggest synagogue west of Chicago until the surrounding Jewish community vanished following World War II. Recently named to the Nation's Register of Consequential Places, the building has been through up to date restoration and will reopen as a museum and community center.

Angelus Temple

Set up by evangelist Amy Church McPherson in 1923, it was actually the home of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. It also has been named to the National Register of Historic Places and still operates as a church of the Foursquare Gospel.

Los Angeles California Temple

No tour of L. A. non secular landmarks should omit the Los Angeles church of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Once the biggest, now the second largest church in the US, its surrounding grounds and gardens are spectacularly lighted at vacation time.




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