Exterior view of the Mission San Juan Capistrano taken by photographer Edward Vischer showing the bell tower and altar, before 1875

Photograph of an exterior view of the Mission San Juan Capistrano taken by photographer Edward Vischer showing the bell tower and altar, before 1875. The Romanesque stone buildings of the complex are visible at center, with a smaller adobe portico to the left, whose roof is covered by terracotta tiles. Some of the walls are crumbling on the larger structures. Weeds overgrow in the dust in the foreground, where a photographer's cart can be seen to the right. A handmade post-and-rail fence, as well as a portion of picket fence, surround the portico's front