With approximately ten thousand full time residents, the city of Sonoma is not even close to being among the largest cities in the County of Sonoma but it is, indisputably, its pulsating hub; economically as well as culturally. The City of Sonoma is strategically nestled amidst flourishing vineyards and internationally acclaimed wineries. The thriving viticultural environment, the industrious wineries, the natural beauty of rolling hills and the sprawling expense of an agricultural valley at their feet, its mild climate as well as the rich cultural heritage attract throngs of national and international year round tourism of all ages.
Featuring abounding soil, plenty of fresh water and a temperate climate, the region has always been rich with food and there is conclusive evidence that it had been populated by as many as five thousand inhabitants at any one time twelve thousand years before the Spaniards commissioned missionaries to settle there in the early part of the nineteenth century.
Still standing in the town s center, Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma was set up by Father Junipero Serra in 1823 and is the one and only mission in California that was instituted after Mexico gained its independence from Spain. It is also the last of twenty one established missions beginning in San Diego, California in 1769.
Later, in 1835, it was the newly independent Mexico which recognized Sonoma as a full fledged city of Mexico and Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, a high ranking officer of the Mexican army, converted Sonoma into a Mexican pueblo and administered the construction of its Central Plaza which covers eight acres and is still the largest plaza in the entire State of California. Concurrently, Vallejo also mapped out and oversaw the construction of the City s network of streets including a 110 foot wide road through which he marched his troops. Re enforcing a Mexican stronghold over the territory, Vallejo was appointed as its military governor while his nephew, Juan Bautista Alvarado, was named governor of the Mexican State of Alta California. In an earnest revolt against Mexican control in 1846, Sonoma was pronounced the capital of the state but that status was revoked when the State of California was annexed by the United States twenty five days later and Santa Rosa, a larger and more established city, was voted in as its capital. It wasn t until 1881 that Sonoma was incorporated as a city of the United States of America.
Besides the above mentioned viticultural and natural attractions of intoxicating wines and beauty which draw so many visitors, the City of Sonoma also offers modern day shopping in an historic plaza, first rate golfing, state of the art spas, as well as hiking and walking trails. And as if all that is not enough, the local agricultural bounty in addition to imported inspirations result in a widely varied and exciting restaurant arena ranging from casual cafes to elegant five star restaurants of Italian, French, Mexican, Thai and Nepalese persuasions; all of which can be supplemented by the districts local artisan cheeses, organic produce and freshly baked breads.
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