San Xavier del Bac Mission - Tucson, AZ
Posted by: 
hykesj
N 32° 06.398 W 111° 00.538
12S E 499153 N 3552256
This “finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States” appeared on a 1971 U.S. postage stamp promoting historic preservation.
Waymark Code: WM164C1
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 05/02/2022
Views: 3
In the last part of the seventeenth century, Jesuit missionaries were establishing missions in the northern reaches of New Spain. In 1692, Father Eusebio Kino, a Jesuit of Italian ancestry, established this mission in the Sonoran Desert to minister to the Tohono O'odham people, a semi-nomadic tribe who inhabited the region. He named it San Xavier del Bac after Jesuit founder Francis Xavier. A church was built in 1700 and Father Kino died eleven years later.
The Jesuits were kicked out of the region in 1767 by order of King Charles III of Spain and were replaced by priests of the Franciscan Order. Shortly thereafter the church was destroyed by raiding Apaches. The current church was built by the Franciscans from about 1783 to 1797. The architecture, attributed to Ignacio Gaona, is entirely European done in a Baroque style with a mix of Byzantine and Moorish influences. The interior is lavishly decorated with murals and statuary.
The administration of this area passed from Spain to Mexico when it became independent in 1821 and then to the United States after the Gadsden Purchase land transfer of 1853. The building suffered from deterioration due to earthquakes and simply standing in the hot desert sun for a couple hundred years. But it has been wonderfully restored both inside and out in recent decades. It is a functioning Catholic church but open daily to the public.
The stamp, one of a set of four, was issued in 1971 to promote historic preservation. Also included in the set was the ‘Charles W. Morgan’ whaling ship, the San Francisco cable cars and Decatur House in Washington DC.
Stamp Issuing Country: United States
Date of Issue: 29-Oct-1971
Denomination: 8c
Color: multicolored
Stamp Type: Single Stamp
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
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