Editing Mission San Xavier del Bac

{{short description|17th-century Spanish mission in Arizona}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox Missions
|  image=[[File:San Xavier del Bac in overcast weather.jpg|250px]]
|  caption=San Xavier del Bac
|  location=near [[Tucson, Arizona]]
|  originalname=La Misión San Xavier del Bac
|  translation=The Mission of Saint Xavier of the Water
|  namesake=[[Francis Xavier|Saint Francis Xavier]], [[Jesuit|SJ]]
|  nickname="The White Dove of the Desert"
|  founded=1692 (current structure dates to 1783–1797)<ref name=History>[https://www.sanxaviermission.org/history San Xavier Mission Organization site]</ref>
|  foundedby=Father [[Eusebio Francisco Kino]], SJ
|  foundingorder=
|  militarydistrict=
|  nativetribe=[[Tohono O'odham]]ans [[Yaqui]]
|  owner=[[San Xavier Indian Reservation]]
|  currentuse=Parish Church
|  coordinates = {{coord|32.107|N|111.008|W|type:landmark_region:US-AZ|display=inline,title}}
|  locmapin= Arizona#USA
|  designation1 = NRHP
|  designation1_date = October 15, 1966<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
|  designation1_number = 66000191
|  designation2 = NHL
|  designation2_date = October 9, 1960<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=103&ResourceType=Building|title=San Xavier Del Bac Mission|access-date=2008-06-15|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228120816/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=103&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=2008-12-28}}</ref>

}}

'''Mission San Xavier del Bac''' ({{langx|es|La Misión de San Xavier del Bac}}) is a historic Spanish [[Catholic mission]] about {{convert|10|mi|km}} south of downtown [[Tucson, Arizona]], on the [[Tohono O'odham Nation]] [[San Xavier Indian Reservation]]. The mission was founded in 1692 by [[Eusebio Kino]]<ref name=History/> in the center of a centuries-old settlement of the Sobaipuri O'odham, a branch of the Akimel or River O'odham located along the banks of the [[Santa Cruz River (Arizona)|Santa Cruz River]]. The mission was named for [[Francis Xavier]], co-founder of the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit Order]] in Europe. The original church was built to the north of the later Franciscan church and was demolished during an [[Apache people|Apache]] raid in 1770.

The mission was rebuilt between 1783 and 1797, which makes it the oldest European structure in Arizona. Labor was provided by the O'odham.<ref name=History/> An outstanding example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States, the Mission San Xavier del Bac hosts some 200,000 visitors each year.<ref name=History/> It is a well-known [[pilgrimage]] site, with thousands visiting each year on foot<ref>Fontana, Bernard L. & photos by McCain, Edward, ''A Gift of Angels: The Art of Mission San Xavier del Bac,'' p. 41, The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 2010, {{ISBN|978-0816528400}}.</ref> and on horseback, some among ceremonial [[cavalcade]]s or ''cabalgatas''.

The site is also known as "Wa:k" in the [[Tohono O'odham language|O'odham language]] (''{{langx|ood|Wa:k}}'' ("Water Place") referring to its surface water and springs, which no longer flow.<ref name="Hill1993">{{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Jane H. |title=Responsibility and Evidence in Oral Discourse |date=1993 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-42529-2 |page=205 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3VJONfWnasC&pg=PA205}}</ref> The water in the Santa Cruz River came up to the surface a few miles south of Martinez Hill and then submerged again near Los Reales Wash. The [[Santa Cruz River (Arizona)|Santa Cruz River]] used to run year-round in this section and was once critical to the community's survival, but now runs only part of the year.

==History==
[[File:San Xavier Mission, Tucson, Arizona-saam 2004.29.38.jpg|left|thumb|San Xavier Mission, 1902]]
[[File:Mission San Xavier Chapel, Main Altar.jpg|thumb|Mission San Xavier Chapel, Main Altar]]
[[File:Statuary, Mission San Xavier Chapel.jpg|thumb|upright|Statuary, Mission San Xavier Chapel]]
[[File:San Xavier SW01.jpg|thumb|Mission garden]]
Mission San Xavier del Bac was established in 1692 by [[Eusebio Francisco Kino]], who founded a chain of [[Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert]].<ref name="stockel">{{cite book |last1=Stockel |first1=Henrietta |title=Salvation Through Slavery: Chiricahua Apaches and Priests on the Spanish Colonial Frontier |date=15 September 2022 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |isbn=978-0-8263-4327-7 |language=en}}</ref> A [[Jesuit]] of Italian descent, Kino often visited and preached in the area, then the [[Pimería Alta]] colonial territory of the [[New Spain|Viceroyalty of New Spain]].<ref name=History/> Construction of the first mission church, about {{convert|2|mi|km|0}} from the site of today's mission, began on April 28, 1700, as noted in his diary:

<blockquote>On the twenty-eighth we began the foundations of a very large and capacious church and house of San Xavier del Bac, all of the many people working with much pleasure and zeal, some in digging for the foundations, others in hauling many and very good stones of tezontle from a little hill which was about a quarter of a league away. ... On the twenty-ninth we continued laying the foundations of the church and of the house.<ref>''Kino's Historical Memoir of Pimeria Alta,'' edited by Herbert Eugene Bolton, University of California Press, 1948, pp. 235–236.</ref></blockquote>

The "little hill" is believed{{by whom|date=February 2024}} to be that southeast of San Xavier del Bac. The location was vulnerable to [[Apache]] raids, and construction was interrupted until 1756, when it resumed under [[Alonso Ignacio Benito Espinosa]]. By 1763 the building was sufficiently complete that the missionaries could hold services inside it, although a poorly prepared foundation led to architectural issues.<ref name="stockel" />

In 1767, [[Charles III of Spain]] banned Jesuits from Spanish lands in the Americas; he installed [[Franciscan]]s, whom he considered more pliable and "reliable", as replacements. [[Francisco Garcés]] was assigned to San Xavier del Bac, where he remained until 1778.<ref name="stockel" /> By 1770, the continuing Apache raids finally destroyed the original church. From 1775 on, the mission community and its Indigenous converts were protected somewhat from Apache raids by the [[Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón]], established roughly {{convert|7|mi}} downstream on the Santa Cruz River.

The present mission building was constructed under the direction of Franciscan fathers Juan Bautista Velderrain and Juan Bautista Llorenz between 1783 and 1797.<ref name=History/> With 7,000 pesos<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/travelspanishmissions/san-xavier-del-bac-mission.htm|title=San Xavier del Bac Mission – Spanish Colonial Missions of the Southwest Travel Itinerary|last=National Park Service|website=Spanish Missions/Misiones Espanolas|access-date=October 11, 2017}}</ref> borrowed from a [[Sonora]]n rancher, they hired architect Ignacio Gaona, who employed a large workforce of O'odham to create today's church.<ref name=History/>

Following [[History of Mexico#After Independence|Mexican independence]] in 1821, what was then known as [[Alta California]] was administered from [[Mexico City]]. In 1822, the mission was included under the jurisdiction of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hermosillo|Catholic Diocese of Sonora]]. In 1828, the Mexican government banned all Spanish-born priests, with the last resident Franciscan departing San Xavier for Spain in 1837.

Left vacant, the mission began to decay. Concerned about their church, local O'odham began to preserve what they could. In 1852, [[John Russell Bartlett]] visited the mission, writing:<ref name="sheridan">{{cite book |last1=Sheridan |first1=Thomas E. |title=Landscapes of Fraud: Mission Tumacácori, the Baca Float, and the Betrayal of the O'odham |date=26 May 2016 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |isbn=978-0-8165-3441-8 |pages=110–111 |language=en}}</ref>
{{blockquote|[The mission is] truly a miserable place, consisting of from eighty to one hundred huts, or wigwams, made of mud or straw, the sole occupants of which are Pimo Indians, though generally called Papagos. In the midst of these hovels stands the largest and most beautiful church in the State of Sonora.}}

With the [[Gadsden Purchase]] in 1853, the site of San Xavier became a part of the United States and the new [[Territory of Arizona]]. The church was re-opened in 1859 when the Santa Fe Diocese added the mission to its jurisdiction. It ordered repairs paid for with diocesan money, and assigned a priest to serve the community. In 1868 the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson|Diocese of Tucson]] was established. It provided for regular services to be held again at the church.

In 1872, the [[Sisters of St. Joseph#Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet|Sisters of St. Joseph]] of Carondelet opened a school at the mission for the Tohono O'odham children. In 1895, a grant of $1,000 was given to repair the building. More classrooms were added in 1900. The Franciscans returned to the mission in 1913. In 1947, they built a new school next to the church for the local children.

== Missionaries ==

Like most missions in New Spain, San Xavier was manned by Jesuits until their 1767 expulsion from Mexico; afterwards, they were replaced by Franciscans.

* 1754–1766: [[Alonso Ignacio Benito Espinosa]]<ref name="NPS">{{cite web |last1=Sphar |first1=Ginny |title=Alonso Ignacio Benito Espinosa |url=https://www.nps.gov/tuma/learn/historyculture/alonso-ignacio-benito-espinosa.htm |website=www.nps.gov |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |access-date=3 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
* 1766–1767: José Neve<ref name="NPS" />
* 1768–1778: [[Francisco Garcés]]<ref name="stockel" />
* 1778–1790: Juan Bautista Velderrain<ref name="npsBeldarrain">{{cite web |title=Juan Bautista de Beldarrain |url=https://www.nps.gov/tuma/learn/historyculture/juan-bautista-de-beldarrain.htm |website=www.nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |language=en}}</ref>
* 1790–1797: Juan Bautista Llorenz
* 1797–1820: Pedro Antonio de Arriquibar<ref name="desert" />
* 1820–1824: Juan Vañó<ref name="desert">{{cite web |last1=Thiel |first1=Homer |title=1820s Tucson: Life in a Mexican Frontier Town at the Time of Independence |url=https://desert.com/1820s/ |website=desert.com |publisher=Desert Archaeology |access-date=23 May 2024}}</ref>
* 1824–1827: Rafael Diaz<ref name="desert" />

==Renovation==

Extensive restoration began in 1992 and was continuing as of 2021.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Karaim |first1=Reed |title=Inside the Latest Conservation Work at Arizona's Spectacular San Xavier del Bac |url=https://savingplaces.org/stories/inside-the-latest-conservation-work-at-arizonas-spectacular-san-xavier-del-bac |work=Preservation Magazine |issue=Summer 2021 |publisher=National Trust for Historic Preservation}}</ref>

==Architecture==
[[File:Mission San Xavier del Bac 2024.jpg|thumb|Mission San Xavier del Bac in 2024]]
[[File:Mission San Xavier Del Bac by Philip G Coman, 2018.jpg|thumb|The North Court at Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson, Arizona]]

San Xavier has an elegant white stucco, [[Moorish architecture|Moorish]]-inspired exterior,{{dubious|date=April 2023}} with an ornately decorated entrance. Visitors entering the massive, carved [[mesquite]]-wood doors are often struck both by the coolness of the interior and the dazzling colors of the paintings, carvings, [[fresco]]es, and statues. The architecture is entirely European, with no Piman influence on its Baroque style.<ref>{{Cite web |title=San Xavier del Bac Mission---American Latino Heritage: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary |url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/american_latino_heritage/san_xavier_del_bac_mission.html |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=www.nps.gov}}</ref>

[[File:Interior view of Mission San Xavier del Bac, 2024.jpg|thumb|Interior view of Mission San Xavier del Bac in 2024]]

The floor plan of the church resembles the classic [[Latin cross]], with a main [[aisle]] separated from the sanctuary by the [[transept]], which has chapels at either end. The dome above the transept is {{convert|52|ft|m}} high, supported by arches and [[squinches]]. At least three different artists painted the artwork inside the church.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} It is considered by many to be the finest example of Spanish mission architecture in the United States.<ref name=History/>
[[File:Mission San Xavier del Bac, Towers.jpg|thumb|upright|Mission San Xavier del Bac, Towers by Philip G Coman, 2018]]
[[File:Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson AZ.jpg|thumb|Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson, Arizona]]

==21st century==
[[File:SanXavierDelBacMission.jpg|thumb|The mission as seen from the hill east of the complex]]

Unlike the other [[Spanish missions in Arizona]], San Xavier is still actively run by Franciscans, and continues to serve the native community by which it was built. Widely considered to be the finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States, the Mission hosts some 200,000 visitors each year.<ref name=History/> It is open to the public daily, except when being used for church services. The [[Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity]], who have taught at the school since 1872, continue with their work and reside in the mission convent.<ref>[http://fscc-calledtobe.org Franciscans. Retrieved 17 July 2017.]</ref> It has a [[mausoleum]] which is open for visiting.<ref>[https://www.sanxaviermission.org/ San Xavier del Bac Mission]</ref>
The mission makes a cameo appearance in [[Willa Cather]]'s 1927 novel ''[[Death Comes for the Archbishop]]'' when it is described by Vaillant as "the most beautiful church on the continent, though it had been neglected for more than two hundred years."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cather |first1=Willa |title=Death Comes for the Archbishop |date=1927 |publisher=Penguin Modern Classics |location=London |isbn=978-0241338261 |page=155 }}</ref>

Mission San Xavier del Bac was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1960 and was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1966.<ref name="nhlsum2">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=103&ResourceType=Building|title=San Xavier del Bac Mission|access-date=2007-09-27|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070728053727/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=103&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=2007-07-28}}.</ref><ref name="nrhpinv">{{Cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=66000191}}|format=PDF|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: San Xavier del Bac Mission|author=Marilynn Larew|date=February 1978|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2009-05-05}} and {{NHLS url|id=66000191|title=Accompanying 16 photos, 15 by Marilynn Larew from 1977, 1 from 1877 after earthquake.|photos=y}}.</ref> The [[San Xavier Festival]] is held the evening of the Friday after [[Easter]] and features a torch-light parade of [[Tohono O'odham]] and [[Yaqui people|Yaqui]] tribal members.

==In popular culture==
The exterior of the Mission was used in the 1979 TV mini-series ''[[Salem's Lot (1979 miniseries)|Salem's Lot]]'', as an establishing shot taken for a fictitious church in Guatemala.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thennowmovielocations.com/2012/04/salems-lot.html|title=Then & Now – Movie Locations: Salem's Lot (1979)|access-date=2022-07-17|publisher=Then & Now – Movie Locations|website=www.thennowmovielocations.com/}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Arizona|Catholic Church|Indigenous peoples of the Americas|NRHP}}
* [[Spanish missions in Arizona]]
* [[Spanish Missions in the Sonoran Desert]]
* [[Architecture of the California missions]]
* [[List of Jesuit sites]]
* [[List of the oldest churches in the United States]]
* [[List of the oldest buildings in Arizona]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* Nentvig, J. 1980. Rudo Ensayo: A Description of Sonora and Arizona in 1764. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ.

==External links==
{{commons category|San Xavier del Bac}}
* [http://www.sanxaviermission.org Official Mission San Xavier del Bac website]
* [https://www.missiongarden.org/visit The Mission Garden], located adjacent to San Xavier mission, in one of the longest known areas of continuous cultivation in the United States.
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13464b.htm Mission of San Xavier del Bac] article at the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050304052328/http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/onlinebks/mission/titlmiss.htm Online book on Mission San Xavier del Bac]
* {{HABS |survey=AZ-13 |id=az0061 |title=San Xavier del Bac Mission, Mission Road, Tucson, Pima County, AZ |photos=207 |color= |dwgs=42 |data=9 |cap=}}
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/amsw/ American Southwest, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary]

{{Arizona Missions}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
{{missions-by-country}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mission San Xavier Del Bac}}
[[Category:Churches in Pima County, Arizona]]
[[Category:Catholic Church in Arizona]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Pima County, Arizona]]
[[Category:History of Pima County, Arizona]]
[[Category:Jesuit history in North America]]
[[Category:Tohono O'odham Nation]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1692]]
[[Category:1699 establishments in New Spain]]
[[Category:Mausoleums on the National Register of Historic Places]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Arizona]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Tucson, Arizona]]
[[Category:Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona]]
[[Category:Catholic pilgrimage sites]]
[[Category:Stagecoach stops in the United States]]
[[Category:San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1960]]
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Arizona]]
[[Category:Landmarks in Tucson, Arizona]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Pima County, Arizona]]
[[Category:Spanish Colonial architecture in Arizona]]
[[Category:1692 establishments in New Spain]]
[[Category:Burial monuments and structures in Arizona]]
[[Category:Spanish missions in Arizona]]