Today people are visiting the mission again because of the mission. In the 1930s, in order to get tourists to the ruins, the town publicized the swallows. They told the story of the swallows returning on March 19th en-mass. Songs were written, a festival was created. Nature runs in cycles, with many renovations being done in the 90’s the swallows left.
Efforts are being made to lure them back and maybe it’s working. A handful of nests are on some of the buildings, not sure if these are new or old. They certainly are very interesting. 
The colonnade of the mission yard.
It takes a lot of work, restoration work to maintain a building in arrested decay.
As seen in the upper right corner, it takes strong steel bolts to hold the structure together.
A beautiful tile in the colonnade honoring St. Fatima, love how the wooden frame mimics the tiles.
Inside, of course, it is the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The old Sera Chapel is still in use, repaired and in beautiful condition.
In 1986 the new Basilica was completed. They tried to recreate the church that fell in 1812. Without exact building plans, they had to look at other Mexican churches of the time. This is a large complex with a school and Franciscan monks. I saw one on the street, with his habit, his modern sneakers and a cold latte from Starbucks. Being a monk does not mean living in the distant past.
A mission bell of course! Thanks to my friend Becky, who did a better job of sluething than I did. I found out that Mrs. A.S.C Forbes had a real name, not just the initals of her husband. Her full name is Harrye (Harriet) Rebbeca Piper Smith Forbes. She came up with the idea for the bells, created them in her foundry and even created an idividual bell for each mission, based on the bells found there. Most of the originals are long gone, but a new foundry bought her mold and the State has been putting them back up along the El Camino Real – mostly the 101 freeway.