santa barbara – The Humble Fabulist

On the right side of the Law

October 10, 2018October 9, 2018 The Humble Fabulist4 Comments

A Spanish Colonial Revival structure with white stucco walls, blinding whiteness broken by many windows of various sizes; Spanish-Moorish elements like interior galleries with arches and staircases decorated with colourful tiles forming intricate patterns; a room with wall-to-wall murals recounting the city’s history; a clock tower offering 360° views and a cool inner courtyard offering peace and quiet. You would be forgiven for thinking of Moorish tower or place of worship in an Andalusian town. But, no, here we are, still in Santa Barbara and this is the city’s Courthouse, fully operational and complete with a Jail Wing, although the latter is no longer used to keep prisoners.

Visitors are welcome to walk around freely, take photos, marvel at the Moorish architecture and even have a picnic in the courtyard. This fantastic, yet quite real, time- (and space) bending trip is free of charge; all that is required by the hosts is for ”passengers” to remain calm, be courteous and refrain from smoking (stating the exact chapter of the code, lest we forget where we really are).

Santa Barbara County Courthouse

July 13th, 2017

Walking Downtown Santa Barbara

October 9, 2018October 8, 2018 The Humble Fabulist2 Comments

On Anacapa Street, attracted by the curvy beauty of this building which, incredibly, is a parking lot. All straight toward the beach and the Chase Palm Park, lined with rows of palm trees as far as the eye can see. And a faraway look at Stearns Wharf; we walked the other way, keeping our distance.

Santa Barbara, CA

July 13th, 2017

Old Mission Santa Barbara

October 8, 2018October 7, 2018 The Humble FabulistLeave a comment

The tenth out of twenty-one California Missions to be founded by the Spanish Franciscans, the Santa Barbara Mission was established on December 4th, 1786. It was the Feast of Saint Barbara whose name it bears. The original buildings were destroyed when they became too small for the increasing population and, later, by the earthquake of December 1812. It was then that the current building started taking shape and was completed in 1820. In a losing fight against mother nature, the towers were damaged again in a subsequent earthquake, in 1925, and rebuilt in 1927. The interior of the church, however, has been largely unchanged since 1820.

Today the Mission is one of Santa Barbara’s major historic landmarks and a tourist attraction. I’m not sure what the link with the Greek Church might be, but this ”made in Greece” icon was for sale at the Mission’s shop, for a hefty $1,850. Although, I probably shouldn’t have been so surprised considering that the Mission is dedicated to a Greek Orthodox Martyr (Saint Barbara was beheaded by her own father – a pagan – for converting to Christianity).
A visit by Queen Elisabeth in 1983 – photographer unknown, from the collection of the Mission’s archive-library.