SEA OF CORTEZ, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO - 2015/02/18: The interior of the Jesuit Mission built in 1697 in Loreto in Baja California, Mexico. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

LightRocket via Getty Images

Misión Nuestra Señora de Loreto

Loreto


Dating from 1697, this was the first permanent mission in the Californias and was the base for the expansion of Jesuit missions up and down the Baja peninsula. Alongside the church, the Museo de las Misiones chronicles the settlement of the Baja Peninsula.