Mision San Ignacio Kadakaaman, in San Ignacio, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

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Misión San Ignacio de Kadakaamán

Southern Baja


With lava-block walls nearly 1.2m (4ft) thick, the former Jesuit Misión San Ignacio de Kadakaamán stands directly across from San Ignacio's small plaza and is flanked by a grove of citrus trees. Occupying the site of a former Cochimí ranchería (indigenous settlement), the mission has been in continuous use since its founding in 1728. It's possibly the prettiest mission in Baja.

One of the three 18th-century altarpieces inside is dedicated to the San Ignacio de Loyola, the town's patron saint. The mission was initiated by the famous Jesuit Fernando Consag, and was completed in 1786 under the direction of Dominican Juan Crisóstomo Gómez. Epidemics reduced the Cochimí population from about 5000 to only 120 by the late 18th century, but the mission lasted until 1840.