Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá
Mission San Fernando Velicatá (Spanish: Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá) was a Spanish mission located about 56 km (35 mi) southeast of El Rosario in Baja California, Mexico.After the Jesuits were replaced by the Franciscans in 1768, the latter were charged with extending Spanish control far to the north, into Alta California.Mission San Fernando, at the Cochimí settlement of Velicatá on the route north, was established by Junípero Serra during the early stages of the Portolá expedition, on May 14, 1769, the day of Pentecost.In the 1770s, under the Franciscans and then after 1773 under their Dominican successors, the mission quickly reached its peak and went into decline as epidemics decimated the native population.A few ruined walls and stone foundations survive at the site as well as petroglyphs and some remains of pictograms.