The Church Square

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La Plaza Church, as seen by looking north from the Pico House on Main Street.Mission Nuestra Sen~ora Reina de los Angeles (Church of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels), was founded on September 4, 1781 by a group of Spanish settlers. The church was considered an asistencia ("sub-mission") of Mission San Gabriel Arca´ngel. Priests from Mission San Gabriel divided their time between the mission and the Asistencia site, but ultimately the installation was never granted mission status and the missionaries eventually abandoned the site. The surrounding area was named El Pueblo de Nuestra Sen~ora la Reina de los Angeles del Ri´o de Porciu´ncula ("The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciu´ncula", which is the present-day City of Los Angeles). A chapel, La Iglesia de Nuestra Sen~ora Reina de los Angeles, was later erected and dedicated on December 8, 1822, and for years served as the sole Roman Catholic church in the Pueblo.