Misión San Francisco Javier de Viggé-Biaundó
Encyclopedia
Misión San Francisco Javier de Viggé-Biaundó was a Spanish mission in San Javier, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Origins
The Spanish mission of San Francisco Javier was initially founded by the Jesuit missionary Francisco María PiccoloFrancisco María Piccolo
Francisco María Piccolo was one of the first Jesuit missionaries in Baja California Sur, Mexico. His letters and reports are important sources for the ethnography and early history of the peninsula....
in 1699 at a spring called Biaundó by the native Cochimí
Cochimi
The Cochimí are the aboriginal inhabitants of the central part of the Baja California peninsula, from El Rosario in the north to San Javier in the south....
, about 8 kilometers north of the mission's subsequent location.
Restablishment
The site was abandoned in 1701 because of a threatened Indian revolt, but was reestablished by Juan de UgarteJuan de Ugarte
Juan de Ugarte was a Jesuit missionary-explorer in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and the successor to Juan María de Salvatierra as head of the peninsula's missions.Ugarte was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras...
in 1702. Several years later, it was moved to the better-watered present location of the community of San Javier, Baja California Sur
San Javier, Baja California Sur
San Javier is a village in Loreto Municipality in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is approximately 36 km southwest of Loreto on an unfinished road...
, Mexico. The energetic Ugarte constructed dams, aqueducts, and stone buildings. Between 1744 and 1758, Miguel del Barco
Miguel del Barco
Miguel del Barco was a Jesuit missionary in Baja California, Mexico and wrote major contributions to the peninsula's history and ethnography....
was responsible for building what has been called "the jewel of the Baja California mission churches" (Vernon 2002:26).
Native population
Primarily under the ravages of Old World diseases, the native population declined steadily through the Jesuit period (1699–1768) and then more steeply after the missionaries of that order were expelled from Baja California.Deserting
By 1817, the mission was deserted. The church has been restored and is now maintained by MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
's National Institute of Anthropology and History
National Institute of Anthropology and History
The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia is a Mexican federal government bureau established in 1939 to guarantee the research, preservation, protection, and promotion of the prehistoric, archaeological, anthropological, historical, and paleontological heritage of Mexico...
.