Soledad Mission

Definitely one of the less frequented missions due to its rural location. It’s quaint and not overly ornate, but certainly worth a trip — just a couple miles off the 101 in Soledad.
The mission building you see pictured is not the original — the original was washed away in a flood in the 1800s. There is now a protective structure built over the remaining few stumps of wall from the original mission.
This mission still functions as an active church and community gathering place — there was a big festival going on the day we visited.

So size wise this is a small mission compared to the other popular ones, like Santa Barbara, San Juan Capistrano or even the 1 in my old hang-​out, the San Gabriel Mission, but that’s not to say this is an inferior mission. Look up it’s history online, you’d be impressed.
I could tell from touring it that this was a working man’s mission. Its location is pretty isolated now so you can imagine how it was back in the day. Anyways, the whole sordid history of the missions is fascinating to me. 1 day I will take a driving tour to see all the existing missions in our state.

This mission is the smallest of the 10 or so I’ve been to. I also believe it was originally destroyed hence this is rebuilt. The museum is nice but as previously stated its much smaller than its counterparts.

I love this mission, it may be my favorite one I’ve visited yet. It is smaller and kind of out of the way, so there were hardly any visitors present when I came.
The church is quiet and simple, but full of warmth. Visitors can leave a prayer and light a candle, sit and contemplate or pray with few disruptions.
I was overcome with emotion while sitting in the chapel.

The original mission melted in a 19^th Century flood and so this is a reconstruction dating from 1955. It stands on the original mission grounds and is surrounded by the various fields of the Salinas valley. You need to drive a few miles off 101 and so one feels a bit isolated from the rest of the busy world.
Yes, that is a good thing.
The museum is simply a few rooms following each other, each with artifacts from different eras. This is a smaller museum than most of the other missions, but bigger than, say, Santa Cruz. The grounds too are simple, but there are many rose bushes and a small olive orchard.
The chapel too is small but handsome in a modest fashion. Above the altar, there is a ¾ sized statue of Our Lady dressed as a Spanish widow. Trust the Spanish however to not shy at incorporating sorrow into their worship. She is lovely, but not an original piece from the mission era.

The Native Daughters of the Golden West have done all of us a great service in re-​establishing this mission and having a local museum which captures the history of the area, so well. This is a simple mission, but well worth the visit. Very close to 101 hwy, so stop in and slow down from your driving.

This mission is plainer than many of the other California missions, but it’s surrounded by farmland and seems to belong to the land it is sitting on. It was restored in 1950s and is well worth the short drive off highway 101 to explore.
There is an Our Lady of Sorrows statue behind the altar; she is wearing a black dress and veil. I think she is beautiful in a Day of the Dead way.

While on vacation a couple weeks ago my wife and I decided to stop by as many of the California Spanish Missions that we could make it to (between Sacramento and Santa Barbara). We made it to five and this was one of them and also the hardest to get to. Without a doubt the humblest of the missions that we visited with just a reconstructed chapel and work building. Very pleasant care-​taker there.

I’ve visited all but one of the California missions. This small structure, in ruins since 1874 then rebuilt in 1955, is one of my favorites.
It doesn’t compare architecturally to the grand missions elsewhere but I enjoy the humble simplicity of Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad and the views of the surrounding area.

I’m not very religious nowadays, but sometimes it’s good to sit, close your eyes, and just be. This place is good for that. It’s simple, clean, and well-​cared for. The statue of the weeping Virgin in the black lacy veil and dress behind the altar kind of creeps me out, but otherwise it’s a good place to meditate.
This mission has been welcoming to many people of different backgrounds and is a gracious host to the AIDS Life Cycle participants who trek from San Francisco to LA on their bikes. When I got to the mission three days after the cyclists had finished passing through, the mission still kept the altar mantel with the prayers of hundreds of cyclists written on it for others to ponder.
Set on a historic road close enough to highway 101 that it’s convenient to access, but far away enough to gain a sense of calm, it offers a nice respite for weary travelers. The agricultural fields and hills around it were inspiring.

The Soledad mission was a forsaken outpost that even the padres tried to avoid serving at. They wanted to go to Carmel or Santa Barbara, and why not!
But, the smaller missions had their own story and perhaps their impact on the local inhabitants was a more gentle one based on persuasion and example rather than brute force or awe-​inspiring shows of wealth and technology.
It is interesting that the last padre, a man who loved the place and died in the middle of a service, was the only one who wanted to be buried there, and was.
I was prepared for disappointment because the original mission had all but disappeared by the time it was rebuilt in the 1950s and that pretty much means it is a modern building. Still, most missions were destroyed and abandoned and themselves are not exactly original and so I can look past that. It was simply rebuilt later than the more popular missions.
The grounds have the remnants of the original walls and foundations, there are trees and some nice landscaping. The museum has the simple remains of a simple place. It is all good, always interesting.
And, it serves a devout local community. The chapel is still used, there is the obligatory giant barbeque pit for hosted events, and there are people there who still care about the place over 200 years later.
It is out in the middle of agricultural fields and that gives it a more authentic perspective than some of the more urban missions
All the missions have their history and their story and are all worth a visit. There were maybe a dozen visitors when we arrived late in the afternoon, but the there is no turnstile and ticket seller here!
The small missions need a donation to survive and I hope they all do.

Out of all the missions we have visited. This must be the saddest one of them all. We are grateful that this has been rebuilt, but you start to feel sorry how this is so small and not much to look at. Just like the other missions, I am glad we took our time to come here. This is a very important part of history of our state. This is actually one of my wife’s favorites. Please take some time out of your weekend and take the family there to visit.

The World According to Noelle
~Allergic Girl’s Guide to Life~
Issue 250
Father Lausen dedicated this Chapel to Mary, the Mother of Christ as Our Lady of Sorrows, on October 9, 1791. This was the 13^th Mission built out of the 21. The founding President of this Mission was Father Fermin Lausen. The Founding Missionaries were Mariano Rubi and Diego Garcia. Nuestra Señora de la Soledad Mission is in a remote part of California only 20 miles southeast of Monterey. The name Nuestra Señora de la Soledad is named for Our Lady of Solitude referring to Mary, mother of Jesus, left in sorrow and loneliness after His crucifixion. Out of all the Missions in California I have ever visited– this is the smallest and most simplistic. According to its history winter floods destroyed the Mission three times. The last missionary left in 1835 and the Mission was almost abandoned for 100 years.
Its always been a dream of mine to visit all of the Missions in California. As a child of an interfaith marriage (Catholicism and Judaism) I have always been interested in the history of religion and matters of faith. I was raised as a Catholic but also celebrated Jewish holidays. I feel most at peace within the walls of a Catholic Church or Jewish Synagogue– Holy places where people come to express their faith in God. There is a long road to this Mission. We pulled up and parked. We took pictures of the roses. Unlike most of the other California Missions this one was simple even in its land scape design. It was rather cool and dark in the Mission. There was an area to light small votive candles for $ 1, I lit two– one for my mom and the other for my grandmother (both who had rare forms of cancer). I went into the gift shop and purchased a $ 3 large candle to light for my mother. I also knelt on a wooden kneeler and said a prayer for my mom’s upcoming surgery. I explained to my friend a few things about the Mission– the holy water, the sign of the cross, the wooden kneeler with no padding, who my patron saint is (St. Jude). In the gift shop I purchased my mom a rose scented rosary, bottle filled with holy water and a picture of the Mission.
From this point and into 2009, but before 2010 I plan to visit all of the 21 California Missions. In true Noelle fashion, I will Unilocal my visits to all 21 Missions along with a local review of the restaurants in the surrounding areas. Cancer has humbled me in ways I could not imagine. Seeing my mom go through chemotherapy, radiation and surgeries to remove tumors has forever changed me. Like my favorite author C.S. Lewis, I too have had battles with my faith in God. Looking back, I have learned an important lesson– its the people you love in your life that matter most– as money, a career, the next great restaurant, vacations are just icing on the cake. In my quiet reflections, through my moments of great clarity I have found the core of my life is comprised of the people I love and all else pales in comparison.
Noelle’s Notes
Open daily from 10 AM to 4 PM
Admission is: FREE, Donations are encouraged.
Mass is held each first Sunday of the month
Lovely gift shop with helpful staff.
Noelle’s Post Secret

Mission Soledad totally lives up to the name, being the loneliest, and most remote of the missions in my opinion. This reproduction building is made more sad by the fact that the original had been allowed to sink into disrepair beyond salvation. All in all, a sad sight, but worth it if you’ve got pleeeenty of time to kill. Small, short trip.

One of the more out-​of-​the-​way Missions on 101 and honestly, there wasn’t that much to look at. My boyfriend and I got there at 3:45PM and by the time the elderly docent kicked us out at 3:59PM we had seen the entire museum. By the way, the museum is actually more of a museum rather than a look into actual ways of life in the mission (a la Mission San Miguel). It was nice of her to at least let us stragglers in.