Loreto (or Conchó) was the first Spanish settlement on the Baja California Peninsula. It served as the capital of Las Californias from 1697 to 1777, and is the current seat of the municipality of Loreto in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. The city of 10,283 people (2005 census) is located on the coast of the Sea of Cortés, about 350 km (220 miles) north of the state capital, La Paz.
The town was founded in 1697 by Jesuit missionaries. The Misión Nuestra Señora de Loreto was founded in the town in 1752. The town served as the capital of the province of Las Californias from its founding until the capital was moved to Monterey on February 3, 1777. The town then became the headquarters for the Lieutenant Governor of California Viejo (later the province of Baja California).
Culture and History of Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico:
There are seven buildings in Loreto from the 18th to the 20th century that are considered “historical monuments” by the federal government, the most important is the Mission of our Lady of Loreto, which is the start of "the royal road" (“el camino real”), an historic corridor that ends in Sonoma USA and follows the ancient route of the Spanish missions.
In the neighboring town of San Javier are five historical buildings, the most important is the Mission of Saint Francis Xavier (Misión de San Francisco Javier), which is considered the best preserved mission in the peninsula. Twenty kilometers North of Loreto there are ruins of the Mission of San Bruno, the first mission of Baja California, which was founded in 1683, only to be abandoned two years later.
The Jesuit Missions Museum (“Museo de las Misions Jesuiticas”) is located beside the Mission of our Lady of Loreto. It has a collection of religious art, weapons and tools from the XVII and XVIII centuries that were used in the Spanish missions in Baja California.
In the La Giganta Mountain Range there are cave paintings in canyons and rock shelters. The nearest sites to Loreto are “Cuevas Pintas” (15 km to the west) and "La Pingüica" (60 km to the North).
The cave paintings from the indigenous groups of Baja California are world famous and some of them have been added to UNESCO's list of world heritage sites.