Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad ( es, Misión Nuestra Señora de la Soledad), commonly known as Mission Soledad, is a Spanish mission located in

Soledad, California Soledad is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. It is in the Salinas Valley, southeast of Salinas, the county seat. Soledad's population was 24,925 at the 2020 census, down from 25,738 in 2010. Soledad's origins started wi ...

. The mission was founded by the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

order on October 9, 1791 to convert the Native Americans living in the area to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. It was the thirteenth of California's 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 A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

was dedicated in 1955. The chapel now functions as a chapel of Our Lady of Solitude, a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

church of the

Diocese of Monterey ''This article describes the present Diocese of Monterey in California. The entity previously known as the Diocese of Monterey from 1849 until 1859, and subsequently known as the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles from 1859 until 1922, is the presen ...

. The priests' residence was later recreated, and functions as a museum.

History

Mission era

Nuestra Senora de la Soledad circa 1900 Keystone-Mast

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, ''La Misión de María Santísima, Nuestra Señora Dolorosísima de la Soledad'', was founded October 9, 1791 by Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, the 13th of 21 missions in California. The

Chalon Chalon may refer to: Culture * Chalon people, a Native American tribe of California * Chalon language, an Ohlone language spoken by the Chalon people Places * Chalon, Isère, formerly Châlons, in France's Isère ''département'' * Le Chalon, in ...

, a subgroup of the Ohlone were converted and resided there, followed by Esselen and

Yokuts people The Yokuts (previously known as MariposasPowell, 1891:90–91.) are an ethnic group of Native Americans native to central California. Before European contact, the Yokuts consisted of up to 60 tribes speaking several related languages. ''Yokuts ...

. By 1803, there were 627

Mission Indians Mission Indians are the indigenous peoples of California who lived in Southern California and were forcibly relocated from their traditional dwellings, villages, and homelands to live and work at 15 Franciscan missions in Southern California and ...

at Mission Soledad. At the Mission many Chalon married local Esselen speakers, while others married

Yokuts The Yokuts (previously known as MariposasPowell, 1891:90–91.) are an ethnic group of Native Americans native to central California. Before European contact, the Yokuts consisted of up to 60 tribes speaking several related languages. ''Yokuts ...

were brought into the mission between 1806 and 1834. The mission's herds numbered 1,150 cattle, about 5,000 sheep, 30 swine, 670 horses, and 40 mules. Spanish Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga was buried in the chapel after he died on July 24, 1814, during a visit to the Mission. The mission was inundated by floods in 1824, 1828, and 1832, and following secularization (when

Pio Pico Pio may refer to: Places * Pio Lake, Italy * Pio Island, Solomon Islands * Pio Point, Bird Island, south Atlantic Ocean People * Pio (given name) * Pio (surname) * Pio (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian footballer * Pio (footballer, born 1 ...

sold the mission for a reported $800), the remaining buildings were looted for supplies. The mission's land became Rancho Ex-Mission Soledad.

Restoration and reconstruction

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 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, while not restored, can still be seen. Governor Arrillaga's grave was identified and given a new marker. The Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad is now a functioning Catholic chapel and public museum.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * Tapis, Estevan, OFM, State of the Missions of New California ... December 1803.

External links

Official Mission Soledad website

Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad: Early photographs and sketches archives
- ''via Calisphere

California Digital Library The California Digital Library (CDL) was founded by the University of California in 1997. Under the leadership of then UC President Richard C. Atkinson, the CDL's original mission was to forge a better system for scholarly information management a ...