Misión San Francisco Solano de Sonoma

The mission’s founding priest, Padre José Altimira, established Mission San Francisco Solano in 1823 as a replacement for both San Francisco de Asís and San Rafael and as headquarters to all the missions. Altimira began construction on the mission before the plans were confirmed; although his superiors disapproved of his plan, he was nevertheless allowed to proceed. The Mission is named for St. Francis Solano, missionary to the Peruvian Indians. The Indian name was thought to be Sonoma. Now part of the Sonoma State Historic Park, the Mission houses a collection of watercolors painted by Norwegian landscape painter Chris Jorgensen, who traveled the length of El Camino Real in 1903-1904 to study and paint the Missions of California.