Arizona’s architectural history reaches far beyond its 19th century territorial days. Spanish missions—outposts that combined religious and military presence in the New World—were outposts that combined religious and military presence in the New World and these began popping up in Mexico just a few short decades after Columbus stumbled upon the Americas.
The first were established in Arizona in 1629 on Hopi land and attempted to spread throughout the region. However, a number of revolts from the Indigenous peoples led to only six missions surviving to this day in varying states of decay, a slim number compared to how many you can find in Mexico, California, and New Mexico. These few are treasured today and a lot of effort has been put forth to preserve what's left of the sites.
Today we’re going to take a look at one of the best preserved Spanish missions in the country, our White Dove of the Desert:
Mission San Xavier del Bac sits on the outskirts of Tucson in the San Xavier Indian Reservation, a spot that once saw nothing but pristine desert for miles. A vestige of Old Spain, the mission served the purpose of spreading Catholicism into the New World and, according to writers such as Eduardo Galeano and Vine Deloria, to gain greater control over the Indigenous populations in order to better control the land and to finance economic endeavors such as mining.
The mission was initially founded in 1692 and named after Francis Xavier, who was known for his missionary work in Asia more than a century earlier. The current church we see today dates to 1783 and is the oldest standing European structure in the state. The Spanish colonial architecture combines the intricate Baroque styles of the day with Moorish-style design, which can be seen in the geometric patterns found around the grounds and the stucco exterior.
As mentioned earlier, the Spanish mission system wasn’t quite as successful in the area now known as Arizona. The desert environment was harsher than, say, the places missions flourished in Florida and California and colonization of the region was slow. They also faced heavy number of revolts from the Indigenous peoples who were typically treated violently by conquistadors, friars, and other European settlers. This led to events such as the O’odham Uprising in 1751, raids from neighboring tribes, and in some cases, the complete destruction of missions and other European settlements.
In ways, Mission San Xavier was lucky. The first structure in the area, which was located by the Santa Cruz River, was raided and destroyed in 1770. The site was moved a few miles away, rebuilt into the beauty we see today, and did not see anymore attacks.
The mission was later abandoned in 1837 after Mexico (which controlled the region at the time) banned Spanish-born priests but was later re-opened in 1859, five years after the Gadsden Purchase. Since then, restoration has been a regular occurrence with natural and human-made damages. In 1887, an earthquake caused some structural damage. Lightning struck the west tower in 1937, causing damage. In the 1980s, emergency conservation was required after trapped water began damaging the interior. And most recently, the mission’s exterior was vandalized with black paint, slightly damaging the plaster.
Despite all the challenges, the mission continues to stand today as one of the finest examples of architectural history.
Want to check out more examples of beautiful churches in Arizona? Check out our article that features 15 churches and chapels across Arizona. You might find that you recognize a couple.
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