We stopped for an afternoon at the San Xavier Mission south of Tuscon. This was built around 1783 by Franciscans after the original church was destroyed in an Apache raid and now serves the Catholics of the Tohono O'odham Nation.
San Xavier has a white, Moorish
-inspired
design, elegant and simple, with an ornately decorated entrance. No
records of the architect, builders, craftsmen and artisans responsible
for creating and decorating it are known. Most of the labor was provided
by the local Indians, and many believe they provided most or all of the
artisans as well. As you enter the massive, carved mesquite
-wood doors of San Xavier we were struck by the coolness of the interior, and the dazzling colors of the paintings, carvings, frescoes
and statues. The interior is richly decorated with ornaments showing a mixture of New Spain and Native American artistic motifs. Local legend says that the second tower is to be left unfinished until the "Excellent Builder" appears to finish it.
San Xavier has a white, Moorish-inspired
design, elegant and simple, with an ornately decorated entrance. No
records of the architect, builders, craftsmen and artisans responsible
for creating and decorating it are known. Most of the labor was provided
by the local Indians, and many believe they provided most or all of the
artisans as well. As you enter the massive, carved mesquite-wood doors of San Xavier we were struck by the coolness of the interior, and the dazzling colors of the paintings, carvings, frescoes and statues. The interior is richly decorated with ornaments showing a mixture of New Spain and Native American artistic motifs. Local legend says that the second tower is to be left unfinished until the "Excellent Builder" appears to finish it.
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