History
Loreto, Baja California Sur has a virtually infinite and rich history, some elements of which date back thousands of years. The oldest signs of historical culture in Loreto - cave paintings in amazingly good condition - were said to have been left behind by the Cochimi people and Guavcura people, who had begun living in Loreto more than ten thousand years ago. Apart from inhabiting the land, the Cochimi were also believed to have come in frequent contact with sea travelers throughout the sixteenth century. This interaction may or may not have influenced events in the history and culture of Loreto that followed around a hundred years later.
Near the end of the seventeenth century – October 25th of the year 1697, to be precise – Jesuit missionaries led by Juan Maria de Salvatierra settled in the land we would come to call Loreto. Loreto became known in history as the very first settlement by the sea of Cortes in California; it was named after the Virgin of Loreto (an Italian incarnation of Mary), with whom Salvatierra felt a close affinity to. When the Order of Jesuits assigned him the task of colonizing the then-unfamiliar Western Coast of Mexico, the young Salvatierra found strength in an icon of the Virgin, which he had brought with him on his journey. It was said that almost as soon as the ship reached the shores of Baja California Sur, the priest placed the image of the Virgin of Loreto by the beach and instituted The Mission of Our Lady of Loreto – which in turn led to the historical founding of the town of Loreto. This mission is now known as the one which spawned all other Spanish missions to Upper and Lower California; it was the very first successful trek to that land.
In the eighteenth century, Father Junipero Serra began a series of expeditions that would ultimately establish seventeen missions north of Loreto, even reaching San Francisco. In its subsequent history, Loreto was the capital of Las Californias (colloquially known as Alta California and Baja California) until February 3, 1777, when the capital was moved to Monterey (La Paz). Loreto was then turned into, among other things, the headquarters of the Lieutenant Governor of California Viejo – now known simply as the province of Baja, California.
It was only in the latter half of the twentieth century that we rediscovered the quiet and quaint and historical village of Loreto as an ideal tourist spot. Loreto has since then become an extremely popular destination, with its unbroken ties to its history and its singular heritage.
