Mission Santa Inés, Spanish mission station in Solvang, United States.
Mission Santa Inés is a Spanish mission station in Solvang with a tall bell tower in white stucco and thick adobe walls. A fountain stands in the courtyard surrounded by garden areas planted with native species from the region.
Father Estévan Tapís founded the site in 1804 as the nineteenth mission in a chain of twenty-one across California. Its location between Santa Barbara and La Purísima was chosen to support evangelization and administration of the region.
The museum displays traditional confessionals from the early 1800s and ceremonial vestments worn during daily services in the mission era. Paintings along the walls illustrate scenes from everyday life shared between the Chumash people and the missionaries during Spanish colonial times.
Visitors can attend daily Mass at 8 AM from Monday through Saturday. On Sundays, bilingual services take place at different times during the day.
The compound housed California's first seminary starting in 1843, founded by Francisco García Diego y Moreno. This marked a turning point in religious education within what was then a Mexican province.
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