Photo's by me...

Text Credit:
http://www.sanxaviermission.org/History.html
Mission San Xavier del Bac is situated in the Santa Cruz Valley nine miles south of Tucson, Arizona.

From the earliest times, the Tohono O'odham settlement in which the Mission is located was called Bac, "place where the water appears," because the Santa Cruz River, which ran underground for some distance, reappears on the surface nearby.

San Xavier Mission is acclaimed by many to be the finest example of mission architecture in the United States.  It is a graceful blend of Moorish, Byzantine and late Mexican Renaissance architecture, yet the blending is so complete it is hard to tell where one type begins and another ends.

After more than two hundred years, the Franciscan Friars are still here serving the needs of the faithful.  San Xavier del Bac Mission is a fully functioning parish church within the Diocese of Tucson.  It is a church that primarily serves the Tohono O'odham, but is open to all.