The White Dove of the Desert

Mission San Xavier del Bac

Nine miles south of Tucson in the village of Wa:k (pronounced Wok) sits one of the finest examples of Spanish baroque architecture in the United States, the Mission San Xavier del Bac.  The mission was established in 1692 by Father Eusebio Kino, a Jesuit priest who traveled approximately 19,000 miles on horseback on apostolic expeditions throughout the Southwest establishing missions in Mexico, Arizona, and up the coast of California.  In 1700 Kino laid a foundation for a church in this area which was never built and whose remains yet to be discovered.  Construction on the current structure was begun in 1783 by the Franciscans after the Jesuits were expelled by Spain.  Initial construction continued until 1797.

The Tohono O'odham tribe was responsible for gathering the materials of sand, lime, clay, rock and wood.  They built kilns and fired the brick which reinforce the walls and excavated the trenches.  The three-foot thick walls were in place within a matter of a few years.

Humans were just smaller in those days and the stairs seem quite narrow and the doors very short compared to today's standards.  From the day the church was started it has been a continuum of building, restoration, and maintenance.

Artistic renderings of the abalone shell, used as a trading medium by the residents of the Southwest during that time period, appear as a theme throughout the mission.

Spines from the skeletons of saguaro cacti serve as a covering for the ceilings in various rooms of the mission.

This arch between the west tower and the mortuary building is also visible in the photo below.  The doors to the sanctuary are the original doors from the early construction.  I was unable to get a photo of them because of the intensity of the light from the west at the time of my visit.

The west tower exterior was restored in 2009.  The east tower was never completed.  An active parish today within the Tohono O'odham San Xavier Indian Reservation, approximately 200,000 people visit the mission each year.

Next post:  The art in the sanctuary