A small adobe chapel beside a much larger basilica on 16th Street, with a walled garden cemetery behind.
Why it's unique
By its own account, the Old Mission is the only intact mission chapel of California's 21, and the cemetery is the only one left within the city limits. Dedicated in 1791, it is the city's oldest intact building, a title the Presidio Officers' Club disputes.
This matters here because the city moved its dead to Colma, so walking among these graves is something you cannot do anywhere else in San Francisco.
Before you go
The small chapel is the old building, not the much larger basilica beside it. Go through to the cemetery, where roughly 5,000 Ohlone, Miwok and other First Californians are buried alongside early Mexican-era figures such as Luis Arguello.
It is the mission's 250th year in 2026.
