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The construction of the stone church began in 1795 and was basically complete by 1797, when it was dedicated for worship on Christmas Day of that year. When the church was originally constructed, the sandstone walls were quarried from the Santa Lucia Mountains, but most of the exterior is different today. Inside, the statue of the Virgin Mary in the side chapel of Our Lady Bethlehem is the same one that Father Serra carried back from Mexico in 1769.

Carmel Mission served both as headquarters for the mission’s agricultural holdings in the Carmel Valley and as command center for the statewide California mission system. Today, the mission serves as a parish church, school, and basilica. Its distinction as a basilica is the highest honorary rank for a church and implies great historical and artistic importance. Pope John XXIII honored Carmel Mission’s church with the rank of basilica in 1961 in recognition of Serra’s work in the establishment of Christianity on the western coast of the United States, as well as the unique architectural features of the structure such as the Moorish dome and the parabolic ceiling. Since that designation, Carmel Mission Basilica was honored with a visit by Pope John Paul II, who visited the church to lay a wreath at the foot of the grave of Father Serra, who is buried beneath the floor of the sanctuary (near the altar).