14 Churches to Explore in California

Checkout places to visit in California

California

The most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area.

Activities Around

Churches to Explore in California

Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph

This is a massive Roman Catholic church in downtown San Jose, the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose, California, with the distinction of a minor basilica. It is listed as a California Historical Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The basilica is named for Saint Joseph, patron saint of the Catholic Church and namesake of San Jose, California.

Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament

The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is considered one of three of the most historically significant buildings in Sacramento.As the mother church, it is the seat of Jaime Soto, the ordinary bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento. The Cathedral is located downtown at the intersection of 11th and K Streets. Currently, the cathedral is considered both a religious and civic landmark.

First Congregational Church

The First Congregational Church of Riverside is a historic church at 3504 Mission Inn Avenue in Riverside, California. It was designed by Myron Hunt, and built in 1913. It was added to the National Register in 1997.It is a two-story Spanish Colonial Revival building with a Latin cross plan with a 125 feet Churrigueresque style corner tower.

Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral is an Episcopal church in the heart of San Francisco. This is a house of prayer for all as we are a warm, diverse and an inviting congregat.The parish, which was founded in 1849, lost its previous church building in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The cathedral is famed for its mosaics by Jan Henryk De Rosen, a replica of Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, two labyrinths, varied stained glass windows, Keith Haring AIDS Chapel altarpiece, and medieval and contemporary furnishings.

Memorial Church

Located on the Main Quad at the center of the Stanford University campus, it was built during the American Renaissance by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband Leland. The church has been called "the University's architectural crown jewel". The church's chaplains were instrumental in the founding of Stanford's religious studies department.

Misión San Francisco de Asís

Mission San Francisco de Asís, commonly known as Mission Dolores, is a Spanish Californian mission and the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. This historic structure features authentic adobe architecture and construction. It's a functioning Catholic Church and one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the nation.

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá was the first of 21 Franciscan missions established in California. The mission and the surrounding area were named for the Catholic saint Didacus of Alcalá, a Spaniard more commonly known as San Diego. The current church, built in the early 19th century, is the fifth to stand on this location. The mission site is a National Historic Landmark.

Mission San José Park

Mission San José is a Spanish mission located in the present-day city of Fremont, California. It was founded on June 11, 1797, by the Franciscan order and was the fourteenth Spanish mission established in California. The old mission church remains in use as a chapel of Saint Joseph Catholic Church, a parish of the Diocese of Oakland. The museum also features a visitor center, museum, and slide show telling the history of the mission.

Mission Santa Clara de Asís 1777

Mission Santa Clara de Asís is a Spanish mission in the city of Santa Clara, California. The mission, which was the eighth in California, was founded on January 12, 1777 by the Franciscan order. Named for Saint Clare of Assisi, who founded the order of the Poor Clares and was an early companion of St. Francis of Assisi, this was the first California mission to be named in honor of a woman.

Old Mission Santa Barbara 1786

Mission Santa Barbara is a Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California. Often referred to as the ‘Queen of the Missions,’ it was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén. Mission Santa Barbara, like other California missions, was built as part of a broader effort to consolidate the Spanish claim on Alta California in the face of threats from rival empires.

San Buenaventura Mission

This is a Spanish mission founded by the Franciscans in present-day Ventura. It was the ninth Spanish mission established in California.

St Sava Serbian Orthodox Church

The St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church is part of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Eastern America. It is built on the presumed location of St. Sava's grave. His coffin had been moved from Mileševa Monastery to Belgrade. The coffin was placed on a pyre and burnt in 1595 by Ottoman Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha.

Temple Sinai

Temple Sinai is a Reform synagogue located at 2808 Summit Street in Oakland, California. It is the oldest Jewish congregation in the East San Francisco Bay region.

The Cathedral of Christ the Light

The Cathedral of Christ the Light, also called Oakland Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland in Oakland, California. It is the seat of the Bishop of Oakland. Christ the Light, the first cathedral built entirely in the 21st century,

Map of Churches to explore in California