Page 94 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Southwest USA & National Parks

92  ARIZ ONA TUCSON  93

San Xavier del Bac Mission VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

San Xavier del Bac is the oldest and best-preserved mission Practical Information
church in the Southwest. It is an imposing landmark as it rises Road map: C5. 1950 W. San Xavier
out of the stark, flat landscape of the surrounding Tohono Rd., 10 miles (16 km) south of
Tucson on I-19. Tel (520) 294-
O’odham reservation, and its white walls dazzle in the desert .Main Altar 2624. Open 7am–5pm daily.
sun. A mission was first established here by the Jesuit priest The spectacular gold-and-red 7 - = 8
Father Eusebio Kino in 1700 (see p44). The complex seen today retablo mayor is decorated in ∑ sanxaviermission.org
was completed in 1797 by Franciscan missionaries. Mexican Baroque style with
Built of adobe brick, the mission is considered to be the elaborate columns. More than
50 statues were carved in
finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the US The Hill of the Cross, to the east of the Mexico then brought to San
(see p26). The church also incorporates other styles, including mission, offers fine views Xavier, where artists gilded
several Baroque flourishes. In the 1990s its interior was and painted them with
extensively renovated, and five retablos (altarpieces) have brightly colored glazes.
been restored to their original glory.
Altar Dome
.Façade of the church The dome and high transepts
The ornate Baroque façade is decorated are filled with painted wooden
with the carved figures of saints (although statuary and covered with
some are much eroded) including a murals depicting scenes
headless St. Cecilia and an unidentifiable from the Gospels.
St. Francis, now a simple sand cone.

Stonework detail
The identity of the carved statues to the
left of the entrance has been revised.
Long thought to be St. Catherine of
Siena and St. Barbara, they have now
been identified as St. Agatha of
Catania and St. Agnes of Rome.
KEY
1 The mortuary chapel contains a
statue of the Virgin Mary, surrounded
by candles.
2 The bell tower’s elegant, white
dome reflects the Moorish styles that
are incorporated into San Xavier’s Painted ceiling
Spanish Colonial architecture. On entering the church,
visitors are struck by the
3 The patio is closed to the public dome’s ceiling with
but can be seen from the museum. its glorious paintings of
4 The museum includes a religious figures. Vivid Chapel of Our Lady
sheepskin psalter and photographs pigments of vermilion The shop This statue of the Virgin is one of the
of other historic missions on the and blue were used to entrance church’s three sculptures of Mary.
Tohono O’odham Reservation. contrast with the stark Here she is shown as La Dolorosa or
white stone background. Sorrowing Mother.
For hotels and restaurants see pp237–8 and pp249–51

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 24th April 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm