Old Mission Santa Inés

Old Mission Santa Inés and its collection

Mission Santa Inés (sometimes spelled Santa Ynez ) was a Spanish mission in the present-day city of Solvang , California , and named after St. Agnes of Rome . Founded on September 17, 1804, by Father Estévan Tapís of the Franciscan order, the mission site was chosen as a midway point between Mission Santa Barbara and Mission La Purísima Concepción , and was designed to relieve overcrowding at those two missions and to serve the Indians living north of the Coast Range . The mission was home to the first learning institution in Alta California and today serves as a museum as well as a parish church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles . It is also designated a National Historic Landmark , noted as one of the best-preserved of the 21 California missions.