Lyndon George: /* Spanish period */

===Spanish period===

===Spanish period===

[[File:San Diego de Alcalá, atribuido a Francisco Rizi (Museo Cerralbo, Madrid).jpg|thumb|left|upright|San Diego‘s namesake is the 15th-century Spanish saint [[Didacus of Alcalá]].]]

[[File:San Diego de Alcalá, atribuido a Francisco Rizi (Museo Cerralbo, Madrid).jpg|thumb|left|upright|The namesake of San Diego is the 15th-century Spanish saint [[Didacus of Alcalá]].]]

The first European to visit the region was explorer [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]], sailing under the flag of [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] but possibly [[Portuguese people|born in Portugal]]. Sailing his flagship ”San Salvador” from [[Barra de Navidad|Navidad]], New Spain, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the [[Spanish Empire]] in 1542, and named the site “San Miguel”.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sandiegohistory.org/bio/cabrillo/cabrillo.htm |title=San Diego Historical Society |publisher=Sandiegohistory.org |access-date=March 12, 2011 |archive-date=May 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505173316/http://www.sandiegohistory.org/bio/cabrillo/cabrillo.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> In November 1602, [[Sebastián Vizcaíno]] was sent to map the California coast. Arriving on his flagship ”San Diego”, Vizcaíno surveyed the harbor and what are now [[Mission Bay, San Diego, California|Mission Bay]] and [[Point Loma]] and named the area for the Catholic [[Didacus of Alcalá|Saint Didacus]], a [[Spaniard]] more commonly known as ”San Diego de Alcalá”. On November 12, 1602, the first Christian religious service of record in [[Alta California]] was conducted by Friar Antonio de la Ascensión, a member of Vizcaíno’s expedition, to celebrate the feast day of San Diego.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mills |first=James |title=San Diego…Where California Began |url=https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/67october/began.htm |date=October 1967 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614235048/https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/67october/began.htm |archive-date=June 14, 2011 |journal=Journal of San Diego History |volume=13 |number=4 |access-date=February 17, 2017}}</ref>

The first European to visit the region was explorer [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]], sailing under the flag of [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] but possibly [[Portuguese people|born in Portugal]]. Sailing his flagship ”San Salvador” from [[Barra de Navidad|Navidad]], New Spain, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the [[Spanish Empire]] in 1542, and named the site “San Miguel”.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sandiegohistory.org/bio/cabrillo/cabrillo.htm |title=San Diego Historical Society |publisher=Sandiegohistory.org |access-date=March 12, 2011 |archive-date=May 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505173316/http://www.sandiegohistory.org/bio/cabrillo/cabrillo.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> In November 1602, [[Sebastián Vizcaíno]] was sent to map the California coast. Arriving on his flagship ”San Diego”, Vizcaíno surveyed the harbor and what are now [[Mission Bay, San Diego, California|Mission Bay]] and [[Point Loma]] and named the area for the Catholic [[Didacus of Alcalá|Saint Didacus]], a [[Spaniard]] more commonly known as ”San Diego de Alcalá”. On November 12, 1602, the first Christian religious service of record in [[Alta California]] was conducted by Friar Antonio de la Ascensión, a member of Vizcaíno’s expedition, to celebrate the feast day of San Diego.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mills |first=James |title=San Diego…Where California Began |url=https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/67october/began.htm |date=October 1967 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614235048/https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/67october/began.htm |archive-date=June 14, 2011 |journal=Journal of San Diego History |volume=13 |number=4 |access-date=February 17, 2017}}</ref>