Founded on October 25, 1697, by Juan María de Salvatierra.

The friar disembarked a few days earlier from the galley "Santa Elvira" in the bay of San Dionisio, now known as Loreto.

This is a historic site as it was part of the first mission in the Californias. By 1793, it had a stone church and a courtyard.

This temple has undergone various transformations and constructions that have altered its original architecture. In 1829, it was severely damaged by a tropical storm, and its reconstruction lasted almost a century. In 1877, it lost its tower in an earthquake.

Its walls are adorned with huge oil paintings, representative of colonial religious art. Some elements from the 18th century are still preserved, such as the altarpiece with five oil paintings, a bell, a crucifix, six oil paintings, and the Stations of the Cross.

It currently houses the Museum of the Missions, where religious objects from the 16th and 17th centuries are exhibited.