Mission architecture

Mission architecture

mission architecture

Church and monastic architecture of Spanish religious orders, especially in the Americas in the 18th century, displaying considerable regional variation as a result of influences of skills of local laborers and the availability of construction materials; relatively unadorned in some regions but considerably more elaborate in others, often with ornamentation imitative of the elaborate and lavish Baroque or the Churrigueresque style. Mission architecture usually exhibits many of the following characteristics: thick, massive walls of adobe brick, laid with lime mortar where available, commonly with wall buttresses to provide additional stability; adobe wall surfaces usually coated with lime-and-sand stucco to reduce the effects of erosion; tamped earth floors, commonly decorated with square tile, arcaded walkways with arches usually built around the patios; commonly, multicurved gables, a belfry, bell tower, or twin bell towers; a flat roof or a low-pitched roof with shaped parapets, usually supported by round logs; thatched or tile roofs; grilles covering windows facing the street; a massive wood door at the main entrance, sometimes heavily carved or paneled, often set in an elaborately sculptured portal. Compare with Mission Revival; also see Spanish Colonial architecture.