"Jesuit records
indicate the Cochimi of Kadakaaman sent several
requests for mission assistance to Italian
Jesuit Padre Piccolo of Mision Santa Rosalia de
Mulege in the early 18th century. Piccolo
first visited the area in 1716 and stayed in a
brush cabana for a month, apparently converting
and baptizing a willing Amerindian population.
In 1728 Jesuit Padre Juan Bautista Loyando
constructed a church and mission house on the
present site, then proceeded to build a number
of visiting chapels at nearby rancherias.
He was succeeded by Padre Sigismundo Taraval.,
who bought Indians from the Pacific islands off
the tip of the Vizcaino Peninsula into the
mission community. Eventually the San
Ignacio mission became the largest and most
successful in Baja California, with a parish of
over 5,000 Amerindians.After the Jesuits were
expelled from New Spain, Dominican Friar Juan
Crisostomo Gomez took charge of the mission,
building a grander church on the original site
in 1786. The walls, 1.2 meters (4 feet)
thick, were constructed of local volcanic stone
without the use of mortar. The lumber for
the wooden beams was transported from Mission
Guadalupe in the high sierras; the carved doors
at the front of the church were brought from the
Mexican mainland. According to Jesuit
records, the queen of Spain paid 1.5 million
pesos for the church construction.
Today the venerable church stands largely in
its original condition, thanks to a 1976
restoration, and is used by the local community
for masses, weddings, funerals, and daily
worship. The church's elaborate facade,
with its engraved stone plaques and plaster
ornamentation, makes it one of the most
impressive of all Baja's mission churches.
The plaque to the lest of the main doors, above
the lower left window, is emblazoned with two
crowned lions (symbol of the Kingdom of Leon in
Spain), two castles (for the Kingdom of
Castile), and the crown of Spain. To the
right of the portal, over the corresponding
lower window, is a simpler plaque with two
overlapping globes (representing the Old and New
Worlds), flanked by the twin Hercules pillars of
Spain and North Africa; the pillars are topped
by the crowns of Spain and Portugal, while the
globe motif features a hybrid crown combining
aspects of both the Portuguese and Spanish
crowns.
Inside the church, the statue at the center
of the main viceregal-style altar is of the
mission's patron saint, St. Ignacius Loyola.
Surrounding the statue are paintings of St.
Joseph and the infant Jesus (upper left), St.
Bernard (lower left), Virgen de Pilar (above the
statue), St. John the Baptist (upper right), and
St. Dominic (lower right). The two side
altars, while not as impressive, also date from
the mission period.
A sign in the church foyer requests that
visitors dress with respect and refrain from
chewing gum".
