Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, Our Most Sorrowful Lady of Solitude (or, Mission Soledad), sprung up in 1791 as the thirteenth in the Alta California mission system. Local Native Americans were converted and worked at the mission. and a fair number of livestock called the mission lands home.

Mission Soledad was not without its geographic troubles; floods ravaged the mission in 1824, 1828 and 1832; with secularization in 1834, the buildings were looted by local residents for building supplies.

As with so many others, the 1834 secularization left Mission Soledad in a dire state of slow decay, eventually falling into ruins. (Much of the quadrangle is outside and shows the current state of the unpreserved walls and rooms.) The current chapel was originally built in 1828, with a restoration and rededication (1954-1955).

Founded: October 9, 1791 (#13) by Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen, near present-day Soledad, California at 36641 Fort Romi Road.

Visit: Free admission (donations accepted). Open daily from 10am until 4pm; closed Easer, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Learn more: Mission's Web Site * Wikipedia: Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad * Photos I Took * Tour Map (PDF will open in a new window; copyright Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad)