La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles

Part of the larger El Pueblo de los Ángeles Historical Monument, the church's origins date to 1784, when the Spanish founded the Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles Asistencia to support nearby Mission San Gabriel Arcángel.

By 1814, the asistencia had been abandoned and a new church was founded in its place by Padre Luis Gil y Taboada.

La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles ("The Church of Our Lady Queen of the Angels") was founded on August 18, 1814, by Franciscan Fray Luis Gil y Taboada.

He placed the cornerstone for the new church in the adobe ruins of the original "sub-station mission" here, the Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles Asistencia (founded 1784), thirty years after it was established to serve the settlement founding Los Angeles Pobladores (original settlers).

[4] A replacement chapel, named La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles – for Mary, mother of Jesus or "The Church of Our Lady of the Angels" – was rebuilt using materials of the original church in 1861.

The gilded altar of the church
A photograph of the "Plaza Church" taken by William Henry Jackson between 1890 and 1900. The structure incorporated a four-bell campanario prior to being rebuilt in 1861. [ 3 ]