July 11, 2024 - California
Mission Soledad

We finished hiking the Pinnacles in the morning while it was cool so had the afternoon free.  We decided to check out nearby Mission Soledad.  Surprisingly, it was not as hot in the valley as it was up in the hills.

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, commonly known as Mission Soledad, is a Spanish mission located in Soledad, California. The mission was founded by the Franciscan order on October 9, 1791, to convert the Native Americans living in the area to Catholicism. It was the 13th of California's 21 Spanish missions, and is named for Mary, Our Lady of Solitude. The town of Soledad is named for the mission.

After the 1835 secularization of the mission and the later sale of building materials, the mission fell into a state of disrepair and soon after was left in ruins. A restoration project began in 1954 and a new chapel was dedicated in 1955. The chapel now functions as a chapel of Our Lady of Solitude, a parish church of the Diocese of Monterey. The priests' residence was later recreated, and functions as a museum.
   
The chapel.
 
In 1954, when the Mission Soledad restoration was begun, only piles of adobe dirt and a few wall sections from the cuadrángulo (quadrangle) remained.
 
   
The museum is in the building at left.
   
The Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad is now a functioning Catholic chapel.
   
The chapel is small.  But it was nice and cool inside.
   
Look how thick the adobe -- mud mixed with straw or grass -- walls are.
   
 
   
It is interesting how the roof overhangs the walls.
   
A pretty garden sits alongside the church.
   
Father Junipero Serra, (1713 - 1784) founder of eight of the 21 Spanish Missions as well as many other accomplishments.  This is just a statue; he is not buried here.  He did not found Mission Soledad.
   
 
   
In the early 1900's,  it was decided to place distinctive bells along the El Camino Real Route  -- The Royal Road, or sometimes The Kings Highway -- where the 21 Spanish Missions were located and what is now Highway 101 --  hung on supports in the form of an 11-foot high shepherd's crook, also described as "a Franciscan walking stick".  We drove Highway 101 quite a bit and sure enough, you see these every mile.
   
Notice how the roof just kind of rests on the walls.
   
In 1841, Feliciano Soveranes acquired Mission Soledad and some of its lands from the Mexican government for $800.  Mission Soledad became a cattle ranch and became known as Rancho Ex-Mission Soledad.
 
With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Ex-Mission Soledad was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1853, and the grant was patented to Feliciano Soberanes in 1874.
   
The south wing of the Mission where Soberanes lived.  Sometimes.  He owned several other Ranchos.
   
A painting of the de Anza Expedition of the East [San Francisco] Bay:  March 23 to April 7, 1776.   The expedition was led by Juan Bautista de Anza and consisted of 20 men.  I find it amazing that the San Francisco Bay area was just being explored -- by the Spanish -- at a time when the Declaration of Independance was being signed.
   
Mission Soledad timeline.
   
A woman named Elsie Jennings built these models of the 21 Spanish Missions in California.  She started the collection after she and her son toured each of the missions during a three year period.  She used her own photographs of the missions to make the models.  During her life, the models where stored on shelves in a spare bedroom.  When Elsie Jennings passed away, her family donated the beautiful collection of mission replicas to Mission Soledad because it was her favorite to visit.
   
Elsie Jennings' model of Mission Soledad.
   
At its peak, Mission Soledad was a quadrangle made up of buildings with many functions, surrounded by thousands of acres of land.
   
The 21 California Missions.
   
Native Californians before the Spanish came.
   
It's hard to imagine California ever looking like this.
   
Walking in the interior of the Quadrangle.
   
Spanish Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga was buried in the chapel after he died on July 24, 1814, during a visit to the Mission.
   
Lynnette stands by a giant olive tree.
   
Joe and Lynnette at the edge of the olive grove, planted with cuttings taken from 200 year old trees that were once part of Mission La Purisima Concepcion in Lompoc.
   

An olive!  I love olives.

The olive's fruit, also called an "olive", is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil; it is one of the core ingredients in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. Thousands of cultivars of the olive tree are known. Olive cultivars may be used primarily for oil, eating, or both. Olives cultivated for consumption are generally referred to as "table olives".  About 80% of all harvested olives are turned into oil, while about 20% are used as table olives.
   
 
   
The De Anza expedition stopped by here on their way to the San Francisco Bay Area back in 1775.
   
The remnants of Mission Soledad before restoration.
 
We enjoyed visiting Mission Soledad.  They did a great job of restoring it.  It's living California history.
   
 
   
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