MISSION SAN XAVIER DEL BAC 6.7 m. south of Tucson on US 89 to the junction with a dirt road, then right on this road 2.3 772., stands on a slight eminence, in accordance with the Spanish tradition, and faces south across the broad Santa Cruz Valley. In front of the church, which dominates the other buildings, lies the long narrow enclosed plaza, or atrium, with the tiny mortuary chapel at the left end, and the low dormitories around a patio at the right. The entire mission forms a very pleasing asymmetrical composition.
Padre Kino, who founded the first mission here in 1700, had visited the Indian village of Bac on the Santa Cruz River seven years earlier and selected the site because of its beauty and fertility. Named in honor of the "Apostle to the Indies," the mission was to be one of a chain extending across Pimeria Alta to the Colorado River, such as was established a century later in California.
San Xavier had a dual purpose: to Christianize the Indians and to be the headquarters of a great ranch worked by them. A chapel and numerous service buildings had been constructed before the Pima revolted so successfully that the Mission was finally abandoned in 1751. It was again active from 1754 until 1767, when the Jesuits were driven from the Spanish colonial domain. Within a year, however, San Xavier was reopened by the Franciscans. The Apache sacked it almost immediately, but the Franciscans at once set to work rebuilding and started construction of the present church. Since Franciscans never used the cruciform plan in work they initiated, it is believed that they built on the foundations laid by the Jesuits. The church was at last consecrated in 1797 and the furnishings and ornaments originally brought to San Xavier by Father Kino were installed. The mission was again deserted when the mission lands were secularized during the Mexican regime, and it was not reoccupied until 1859, after the Gadsden Purchase and after Arizona had again become part of the Diocese of Santa Fe.
By 1906 when Bishop Granjon began the restoration of the mission with the aid of Indians, weather and mishaps had nearly destroyed the dormitories, and one tower of the church, had obliterated the mortuary chapel and most of the service structures. Though he endeavored to follow the old plan in general, the bishop made several changes to meet modern needs. The atrium in front of the church is quite different from the original and the dormitories and their patio follow a new scheme.
The design of the church admirably exemplifies the late Spanish Renaissance, or Churrigueresque, style as interpreted by native craftsmen. Largely of burned adobe brick and lime plaster, its facade is divided into three parts, with the outer thirds relatively plain, each broken chiefly by one simple balconied window. These plain ends are part of the massive towers that support arcaded and buttressed belfries, one with a crowning dome, the other without. The central third of the facade is richly encrusted with naively executed Spanish baroque ornament surface decorations of shells, arabesques, and swirling volutes that have weathered to soft reds in striking contrast with the smooth white plaster walls on either side. The entrance portal, framed by a low classic arch and flanked by niched figures of saints, is deeply recessed. Above it is a choirloft window with dark wooden balcony matching those on the tower. This rich central third of the wall is topped by a curved gable that rises above the cornice and roof parapet forming a false front. Perhaps the most impressive features of the exterior are heavy bracketed scrolls, part of the flying buttresses at the base of the belfries.
Within is an arcaded and vaulted apse leading to a chancel that holds the high altar. Framed by a wide and stilted chancel arch, the altar is adorned with images of the patron Saint Xavier and of the Virgin, and with cherubs and scrolls. It is richly painted in gilt and polychrome. On the* corner piers of the domed crossing before the chancel are perched large carved wooden figures of angels bearing bright-colored banners. The plaster walls of the church have painted dadoes and a deeply modeled and painted cornice; the interior of the dome is also painted with figures of early saints. Other religious figurines fill wall niches. At each side of the crossing are transept chapels, each containing two altars. Those in the Epistle Chapel on the right are dedicated to the Mother of Sorrows and to the Immaculate Conception ; those in the Gospel Chapel on the left to the Passion of Our Lord and St. Joseph. Against the right pier is a wineglass canopied pulpit of carved wood.
The wood carvings and the paintings, covering almost every inch of wall and ceiling, are of particular interest and deserve close study. They were undoubtedly conceived by a Spanish artist in the mode of the period but largely executed by the Indians. A series of panels gives the story of the life of Christ ; between, below, and above them are scrolls, painted imitations of mouldings, frames, bench-backs, and other architectural features. The colors have the vividness and lack of subtlety characteristic of work by very primitive painters and the faces of the pictured people have little expression.
The interior is best viewed from the choirloft, reached by a stair in the left tower. In the base of this tower is the old baptismal font; the walls around it and the stair well are covered with murals. Above the baptistry is the choir vestry, from which a stairway leads to the balustraded platform around the belfry. These towers were at one time used as lookouts for the Apaches. There are various legends to account for the absence of a dome on the second tower; probably the padres left the church uncompleted to avoid paying a tax to the Crown. - Arizona: A State Guide, Tucson section, pgs. 265, 268.
The beautiful Mission San Xavier del Bac continues to serve as a parish church. It is open to visitors from 7 am - 5 pm daily except when services are being conducted. The church museum is open 8:30 am - 5 pm daily. Docent led tours are available and last about 45 minutes and are conducted Monday - Saturday. Check this
website for schedule.
Restoration of the mission continues. Some of the restoration is to repair damage caused by earlier restoration efforts.
The mission was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.