Table of Contents
ARTS AND CULTURE - Key Findings

The Route of Missions

The Jesuits founded 15 missions along the coast in Baja California Sur.  Each mission consisted of churches, chapels, and other buildings where clergymen and lay people lived.  This system of architectural complexes is one of the main cultural icons in the state.  The first mission was Nuestra Señora de Loreto Concho, founded in 1697 by Father Juan María de Salvatierra.[1] Accordingly, Loreto is considered to be the municipality with the most important historical heritage in the state.

Missions established in the Californias generated a set of economic and cultural activities that need to be cataloged and restored.  Archeological sites, handwritten documents, paintings, sculptures, original plans, crafts, fruits, and vegetables growth, livestock ranch exploitation, as well as an intangible heritage including beliefs, oral traditions, and religious festivities are just some of the important legacies of the missions’ history in the state.[2]

Two main institutions safeguard this cultural heritage: the Coordinating Office of the State Program Route of the Missions (CPERM) and INAH, both federal institutions.  Together with the Secretary for Tourism, these agencies are promoting tourism to architectural and cultural sites in the old Jesuit missions, and creating a corridor called the “Route of the Missions.”  This route also corresponds to historic districts in Loreto, El Triunfo, and San Javier that contain important buildings and plazas from that era that also contain important examples of sculpture and artwork.
Figure 14: Funded projects that contributed to the Route of the Missions

Year

Project

Expected product

Amount

(pesos/USD)

2000

Baja California Sur en concierto

Four piano concerts in four different missions.

$24,000/ US$2,270

Internet site of the Missions in Baja California Sur[3]

A web page with historic information, photographs.

$25,000/ US$2,365

2001

Audio book for children telling the story of the missions.

Publication of CDs telling stories about the missions; 1,000 copies.

$55,000/ US$5,203

Book in Braille about the history of the missions for children

Publication of 1,000 copies of the book in the Braille system.

$45,000/ US$4,257

2002

“Testamentos del Sol” [Testament of the Sun]

Poetry book, including 45 poems about the rebellion of Californians in the year 1743.

$37,200/ US$3,519

“Una Mirada a Baja California Sur” [A view of Baja California Sur]

Internet Multimedia page including photographs, historic data and reports of history publications. It includes a map of the Route of the Missions.

$37,000/ US$3,500

Internet page with cartoons about the Missions

Interactive page in Internet about the missions in Baja California Sur, for children, including historic data, photographs and cartoons.

$37,000/ US$3,500

2003

Stories about Baja California Sur

Three stories about Baja California Sur in different times.

$30,000/ US$2,838

Esthetic and historical analysis of buildings in La Paz and proposals for their restoration and use.

Ten paintings in watercolor and acrylic with images of the buildings eligible for restoration.

$30,000/ US$2,838

“Ruta de las Misiones: laberinto del tiempo” [Route of the Missions: Time labyrinth]

A CD documentary including historical and graphic information about the missions of Baja California Sur.

$30,000/ US$2,838
Source: Instituto Sudcaliforniano de la Cultura

 

page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

[1] Gob. Del Estado de BCS, Dir. De Planeación. Programas de Desarrollo Regional 2001.  [Regional Development Programs 2001].  La Paz, Baja California Sur, p.20.

[2] Gob. Del Estado de BCS, Dir. De Planeación. Programas de Desarrollo Regional 1999-2005.  [Regional Development Programs 1999-2005].
 
©Copyright 2006, International Community Foundation, All rights reserved