Mission San Xavier del Bac

San Xavier is not a museum. It is the parish church of Wa:k, a community in the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation, and it still serves descendants of the O'odham people for whom the mission was founded. It is also a National Historic Landmark and one of the finest examples of Mexican baroque architecture in the United States. Come as you would to any place of worship.

Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, a Jesuit, first visited the village, then called Bac, in 1692 and gave it the patronage of San Francisco Xavier. He laid foundations for a large church in 1700 but it was never built, and the first church here, a flat-roofed adobe begun in 1756, survives in altered form as the mission's east wing. After the Jesuits were expelled in 1767, the Franciscans took over. In 1783 Father Juan Bautista Velderrain borrowed 7,000 pesos from a Sonoran rancher, against wheat not yet planted, to hire the architect Ignacio Gaona and a large O'odham workforce. Work stopped in 1797 when the money ran out, and the east bell tower has stayed unfinished ever since.

The carved retablo façade around the main door is the feature everyone photographs, and it is also the focus of current conservation. Patronato San Xavier, the nonprofit that funds the work, has reported scaffolding going up and coming down as winter-season phases proceed, so the façade may be partly hidden when you arrive. A layer of cement applied in the mid-20th century trapped moisture in the walls, and removing that damage has been a long job. The interior was decorated by a painter and a sculptor whose names are not known, with many statues imported from guild workshops in Mexico.

With the parish's permission, Patronato runs free docent tours of about 30 minutes, with no registration, several times a day from Monday to Friday and on some Saturdays. They are donation-based, and you can check the month's schedule on its website. To keep the church a sacred space, tours stay on the grounds and do not enter the interior, but all visitors are welcome to go in on their own before or after. Tours do not run above 95°F, and group and school tours are currently suspended.

The parish's visitor page sets no photography rule, so ask at the mission if in doubt, and check Mass times with the parish office on (520) 294-2624. The church has no heating or air conditioning, and drones are banned near it without written consent from the San Xavier District. As a matter of respect, keep your voice down, stay out of the way during services and ask before photographing anyone at prayer. Remember too that you are on the Nation's land.