Founded in 1797, San Juan Bautista is the most striking architectural example in the United States of a 19th century village built on the traditional Spanish-Mexican Colonial plaza plan.

Grouped around the original plaza, which was first used as a parade ground by the Spanish soldiers guarding the mission, are five historic structures: Plaza Hall, Plaza Stable, Castro House, Plaza Hotel and San Juan Mission Church and Convent.

San Juan Bautista Plaza is a National Historic Landmark and a California State Historic Park.

When we visited San Juan Bautista Plaza in 2011, a crew was setting up a mobile theater to screen Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.

As you recall, near the end of the movie, Scottie and Judy (Madeleine) visited a mission at some distance from San Francisco. Dreadful things happened in the bell tower. The mission they visited was Mission San Juan Bautista, but there is no bell tower here.

There once was a bell tower, but it was demolished after a fire. Hitchcock added a post-production bell tower at the Paramount studio in Los Angeles using scale models and matte paintings. The interior staircase shots were filmed on a studio set.