San Xavier del Bac

Mission San Xavier del Bac was founded as a Catholic mission by the Jesuit Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Father Kino envisioned Bac to be his head church or cabecera but no actual church had been built on the site at the time of Father Kino's death in Magdalena in 1711.

The original Jesuit church was eventually built by 1764, likely a mile or so away from the current church but its exact location and structural nature are unknown. In 1767 the Jesuits were recalled aback to Europe and this early structure abandoned. The Franciscans arrived in 1768 and construction on the current church began in 1783. The planning was supervised by Fr. Juan Bautista Velderrain and completed by Fr. Juan Bautista Llorens in 1797.

It is believed that local Tohono O’odham people helped in the construction of the Church, and that a limited number of master builders and craftsmen were brought in due to the sophistication of the building and elaborate nature of the plaster work and décor. The style and décor of the church are of definitive European origins and it is likely that European artisans supervised and guided the natives in their labors.

Bac Exterior