Presidio of Santa Barbara, Spanish colonial park in downtown Santa Barbara, United States

The Presidio of Santa Barbara is a downtown park containing two original adobe buildings and several reconstructed structures across about five and a half acres. The site follows the layout of a military fortress from the colonial period.

Spain built the presidio in 1782 to defend the Second Military District of California, not the mission church. Governor Felipe de Neve chose the site near a sheltered harbor, and Junípero Serra blessed it on April 21, 1782. It was the last military outpost Spain built in the New World. The presidio surrendered without a fight to John C. Frémont on December 27, 1846.

The presidio's chapel served as the main place of worship for early Santa Barbara residents until the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake destroyed it; the inland mission was meant mainly for converted Chumash neophytes. Reconstructed in the quadrangle, the chapel now hosts concerts, lectures and occasional Catholic weddings with the local bishop's permission.

Start your visit at the Visitor Center in Cañedo Adobe, where you'll find exhibits and information about the site. You can walk around freely and follow the paths to explore all the buildings at your own pace.

El Cuartel, a two-room remnant of the soldiers' quarters, is the second-oldest surviving building in California; only Father Serra's Church at Mission San Juan Capistrano is older. The rest of the presidio quadrangle was lost and has been rebuilt by the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation.