Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma

Founded 4 July 1823 by Padre Jose Altimira. The Mission San Francisco Solano was named for St. Francis Solano, missionary to the Peruvian Indians. By 1832 the mission had become self-supporting. The main buildings were arranged around a large, square courtyard. There was a 27 room convento for the priest and guests of the mission, a great adobe church at one end, and a wooden storehouse at the other. Along the back of the courtyard were the living quarters and workrooms for the young Indian girls. There were also workshops for craftsmen. Outside the mission compound, there were orchards, vineyards, a gristmill, houses for the soldiers, a jail, a cemetery and a hospital. In 1834 the Mexican Congress decided to close down all of the missions in Mexico. Mission San Francisco Solano ceased to exist on November 3, 1834, when it was designated a First Class Parish. Now part of the Sonoma State Historic Park, the Mission houses the Jorgensen watercolors of Missions of California. There is no active church at the Mission