Tucson: Mission San Xavier del Bac

After supper on Day 2, I decided to go for the evening light at the Mission San Xavier del Bac, a church on the Tohono O'odham Reservation just outside Tucson that dates back to the Spanish colonial period. The Tohono O'odham are an indigenous people of the region. Construction began in 1783. I was originally planning to get up before dawn and drive over for the morning light, but decided I probably wouldn't want to wake up that early and anyway it might be a little discourteous to the neighbors around the Airbnb to leave quite so early in the morning.

This turned out to be a good decision. The light on the church was gorgeous and there were few people, the concessions having been closed for the day. It meant that I didn't have an opportunity to donate any money to the church, which I would normally have done. It's a functioning church and I'm sure they could always use the money. I also did not have an opportunity to go inside the church, as tours are offered. However, having seen photos of the inside of the church, it's ornate but not as beautiful as the outside, and that's the best I'll say about it. You can do a Google image search if you are curious.

As you can see, the mission is still under renovation, but the left tower is complete and beautiful.