Sonoma Mission Exterior

Navigation for San Francisco Solano:

• Mission Home
• History
• Museum
• Chapel
• Courtyard
• Exterior
• Jorgensen Watercolors

When you are finished with your tour of the main portions of the Mission, go back outside and take a look around. Step back into the park diagonally across from the Mission and look back to see the whole structure in context...

Picture taken 3:10pm 29 Aug 2003

The other structures in the area also give you added information about the Sonoma area during the Mission era and afterward. The soldiers' barracks across the street, for example, have other exhibits such as this beehive oven used for baking bread...

Picture taken 3:10pm 29 Aug 2003

Below you should see a rotating panorama of the interior courtyard of the soldiers' quarters. You should be able to click on the panorama to stop the rotation at any point and then drag the mouse left, right, up, or down to see any specific area. If you have a mouse wheel, it should be able to be used to zoom in and out. If one or more of these behaviors does not work click on the full screen icon (top right corner) and try the behavior again. If you are at full screen, press the ESCape key to have the panorama return to this page. This panorama has few up and down components.

Landmarks

The official California Landmark sign for the end of the Mission Trail is actually located at Mission San Francisco de Asís but this Mission is the true end of the trail. This is indicated by a plaque located on the corner in front of the Mission...

Picture taken 2:05pm 29 Aug 2003

...which reads: The End of The Mission Trail 1523-1823 The Mission Trail marked three hundred years of Spanish-Mexican settlement. It travelled as far South as Guatemala and traversed Mexico to advance through eleven of our present day United States. In 1823 Mission San Francisco Solano was founded, marking the last and northernmost outpost on the historic Mission Trail

The California Landmark sign for the Mission is on the front of the Mission under the walkway...

Picture taken 2:10pm 29 Aug 2003

...and reads...

Mission San Francisco Solano

On July 4, 1823, Padre Jose Altimira founded this northernmost of California's Franciscan Missions. In 1834 secularization orders were carried out by military commandant Mariano G. Vallejo. San Francisco Solano became a parish church serving the pueblo and Sonoma Valley until sold in 1881. This plaque replaces one originally dedicated by the Historic Landmark Committee, Native Sons of the Golden West, 1926.

California Registered Historical Landmark No. 3

Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the Sonoma Parlor No. III, Native Sons of the Golden West. July 14, 1963.

That's the end of the tour. Thank you. Please visit the other missions.

For a Flash video of this Mission and other resources see The California Mission Resource Center site.