Cathedral of Our Lady of La Paz.
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Bahia de La Paz, the Bay of Peace, was named in 1596, by the same Admiral Sebastián Vizcaíno whose own name still sticks to the desert he later explored. Vizcaíno met with a friendlier reception at the Bay of Peace than did earlier explorers.
When Vizcaíno arrived, the Indians were in good humor, celebrating the annual harvest of the pitahaya cactus fruit, which also saved his crew from scurvy. In 1602, sailing from La Paz Bay, Vizcaíno rounded Cape San Lucas at Baja's southern tip, and sailed up the Pacific coast, past the Vizcaíno Peninsula, all the way to the Mendocino area, north of present-day San Francisco, California.
He was among the first Europeans to explore the coasts of both Baja and Alta California, following the route taken fifty years earlier by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo.
In 1533, conquístador Hernan Cortés had sent the ship Concepción to explore the sea that now bears his name. In 1534, Basque mutineer Fortún Jiménez seized the ship and executed its captain, Diego Becerra.
Jiménez and 22 of his crewmen were the first Europeans to land at La Paz. A few days later, while collecting fresh water from a spring, they were massacred by Pericú Indians.
Survivors on the ship brought back tales of the magnificent bay full of pearl oysters, and, ever on the lookout for riches, Cortés himself led an expedition to the bay in 1535. He founded a tiny settlement near Pichilingue (the present ferry terminal), but, with its limited supplies, it lasted only two years in the harsh desert.
It was another sixty years before the next European, Vizcaíno, disturbed the peace of the bay.
Murals, La Paz Museum of Anthropology.
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Our own exploration of La Paz also began along the bay, near our hotel. We strolled a few short blocks to the malecón, a picturesque beachfront promenade lined with palm trees, parks, hotels, shops and restaurants, all facing the bay, a grand, turquoise reflecting pool for the city's famous sunsets.
Nearby streets are filled with more excellent restaurants, historical buildings, shops and shoppers, many drawn by southern Baja's largest department stores, Dorian's and Perla de La Paz.
A few blocks away is the town plaza, a tree-shaded park watched over by the Cathedral of Our Lady of La Paz, built in 1861 on the site of the original mission church. Nearby are the large municipal market, the Museum of Anthropology, a historical library and a cultural center featuring the Teatro de la Ciudad (City Theater), which hosts the La Paz Symphony and a variety of stage productions.
La Paz is also home to the University of Baja California Sur and the Technological Institute of La Paz, which specializes in the study of fisheries, using the world's most productive fishery, the Sea of Cortez, as its laboratory.