Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
 Looking toward the rebuilt chapel at Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad in December 2004.[1]
| |
| HISTORY | |
|---|---|
| Location: | Soledad, California |
| Name as Founded: | La Misión de María Santísima, Nuestra Señora Dolorosísima de la Soledad [2] |
| English Translation: | The Mission of Mary Most Holy, Our Most Sorrowful Lady of Solitude |
| Patron: | Blessed Virgin Mary [3] |
| Nickname(s): | "The Lonely Mission" [4] |
| Founding Date: | October 9, 1791 [5] |
| Founded By: | Father Fermín Lasuén [6] |
| Founding Order: | Thirteenth [3] |
| Military District: | Third [7] |
| Native Tribe(s): Spanish Name(s): |
Chalon, Esselen, Yokuts Costeño |
| Primordial Place Name(s): | Chuttusqelis [8] |
| SPIRITUAL RESULTS | |
| Baptisms: | 2,131 [9] |
| Marriages: | 648 [9] |
| Burials: | 1,705 [9] |
| Neophyte Population: | |
| DISPOSITION | |
| Secularized: | 1835 [3] |
| Returned to the Church: | 1859 [3] |
| Governing Body: | Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey |
| Current Use: | Chapel / Museum |
| Coordinates: | 36°24′16.6″N, 121°21′20.9″W |
| California Historical Landmark: | #233 |
| Web Site: | http://www.ci.soledad.ca.us |
Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad is a former religious outpost established by Spanish colonists on the west coast of North America in the present-day State of California. Founded on October 9, 1791 by Roman Catholics of the Franciscan Order, the settlement was the thirteenth in the twenty-one mission Alta California chain.
Precontact
History
The Ohlone, the original residents of the valley, were converted and brought to live at the Mission, followed by Esselen and Yokuts. Governor [José Joaquín de Arrillaga was buried in the chapel after he died on July 24, 1814 during a visit to the Mission. Though prosperous in its early years, the Mission declined after 1825. Nevertheless, Father Vicente Francisco de Sarría stayed on in poverty to serve the Indians until his death in 1835, when the Mission was secularized. This was an attempt by the Mexican government to turn the California missions over to the Indians on whose lands the missions had been established.
The Mission lands were subsequently "regranted" to the Bishop of Monterey in 1859. For over a century after secularization the Mission sat crumbling in the wind and rain. In 1954, when restoration was begun, only piles of adobe dirt and a few wall sections from the cuadrángulo (quadrangle) remained. The chapel was reconstructed and dedicated under the auspices of the Native Daughters of the Golden West on October 9, 1955. The ruins of the quadrangle, cemetery, and some of the outer rooms can still be seen. Governor Arrillaga's grave was identified and given a new marker.
Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad today serves as Nuestra Señora de La Soledad Catholic Church in the parish of Soledad. It is open to visitors, but is not used as a parish church.
Notes
- ↑ (CC) Photo: Robert A. Estremo
- ↑ Leffingwell, p. 109
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Krell, p. 224
- ↑ Ruscin, p. 111
- ↑ Yenne, p. 120
- ↑ Ruscin, p. 196
- ↑ Forbes, p. 202
- ↑ Ruscin, p. 195
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Krell, p. 315: as of December 31, 1832; information adapted from Engelhardt's Missions and Missionaries of California.