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THE JUNIPERO SERRA CONVENTO
MUSEUM
 The
Old Convento wing of the Carmel Mission houses the museum dedicated to the Founder
of the California Mission Chain, Blessed Fray Junipero Serra.
Not only did Father Serra
make his residence at this mission, he used it as the administrative
headquarters of the Mission Chain. The earliest portions of the Old Convent
(Convent for Male Religious), date to the third quarter of the eighteenth
century and were constructed over a long period of years culminating around
1820. The earliest portions of the building are the rooms occupied by Father
Serra’s Cell and the room now displayed and represented as the Grand Sala or
living room. Successive additions to
 the
structure gave it its present long shape that forms the North eastside of the
large quadrangle or compound.
Found inside this structure
are the Padre’s kitchen, living room, guest dining room and refectory. The long
“chapel-like” room that now houses the Serra Sarcophagus was the site of the
Grand Sala or reception room. The rooms have been for the most part restored to
their original purposes for restoration.
 The room that houses California’s First Library (founded by Serra in 1770) was
originally one of the Padre’s cells or bedrooms but houses the library artifacts
as the site of the original library has not been restored - this site is in
front of the left front bell tower of the church as presently under
archeological excavation.
At the
east end of the building where the Visitor’s Reception Room and Museum Store now
stand was the common kitchen for preparing the midday meals for the native
workers at the mission establishment.
Throughout the building, original and period artifacts from the Carmel Mission
are displayed for the public.
by Sir Richard Joseph Menn, G.C. St.G.G.
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