PRESIDIO PARK

This park, set on a hill overlooking Old Town, is a beautifully landscaped area with a view over the city and its main roads. It was here that the real conquest of California began, with the first permanent European settlement. With the help of a group of soldiers, Father Junípero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan missionary, established the state's first mission here in 1769, christened San Diego de Alcalá. Although far from breathtaking, the site is now part of the national historic heritage.