El Pueblo de Los Angeles statues

Los Pobladores, the Founders of El Pueblo de Los Angeles

There are 3 historical statues in EL PUEBLO DE LOS ANGELES.

Talented dancers entertain visitors to El Pueblo

Shops on Olvera Street, a "Mexican marketplace" of great food and items to purchase

STATUES IN EL PUEBLO

There are three statues in El Pueblo of men who had a significant influence in the developing and founding of El Pueblo de La Reina de Los Angeles:

1. King Carlos III, King of Spain
2. Governor Felipe de Neve, Spanish Governor of the Californias
3. Father Junípero Serra, the Father of the California Missions

"King Carlos III of Spain (1716-1788) ordered the founding of El Pueblo de La Reina de Los Angeles in 1781. This statue was presented in 1976, in honor of the 200th anniversary of American independence. It was dedicated on the Plaza by the King and Queen of Spain, Don Juan Carlos I and Doña Sofia on September 30, 1987."
--Plaque in front of statue in El Pueblo

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"Felipe de Neve (1728-1784) was Spanish Governor of the Californias from 1775-1782. In 1781, on orders from King Carlos III of Spain, Felipe de Neve selected a site near the River Porciúncula and laid out the town of El Pueblo de La Reina de Los Angeles, one of two Spanish pueblos he founded in Alta California."
--Plaque in front of statue in El Pueblo

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"Born on the Island of Majorca off the coast of Spain, Father Serra (1713-1784) was ordained in Palma where he taught for fifteen years before being sent to Mexico as a missionary in 1749. In 1769 he became Padre Presidente of the Fransiscan missions in Baja California. That same year he accompanied Gaspar de Portolá on a colonizing expedition to San Diego where he founded the first of the nine missions he established in Alta California. Despite an injured leg and constant pain, Father Serra labored mightily in the service of the church and was a major leader in the conquest of California for Spain."
--Plaque in front of statue in El Pueblo

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