Today we decided to visit Mission San Xavier. It is a National Historic Landmark founded by Fr. Eusebio Francisco Kino, the Jesuit pioneer and explorer in 1692.
The Mission that stands today was built between 1783 to 1797 and is widely considered to be the best surviving example of Spanish Colonial architecture. The statues inside date back to the 1750’s with vivid baroque altars and original paintings on the walls. Walking into the Mission is like walking into the 18th Century.
The detail on the front entrance is magnificent !
We arrived in time to join the tour that had just begun. The Mission is still a working church so there were parishioners inside praying.
In 1783, with 7,000 pesos borrowed from a rancher Fr. Juan Bautusta Velderrain began building todays church. The Franciscan introduced lime mortar, kiln-fired brick, masonry vaults and detail to the church that is said to rival any church far into today’s Mexico. There are walls that are three to six feet thick.
From 1790 to 1815, artists from central New Spain worked to complete the interior. They earned double pay because the Apaches were a constant threat. In 1797 they ran out of money so the east tower was left with bare brick and no tower.
At one point in time the church was left abandoned for an extended period of time and was in bad disrepair. There has been ongoing restoration of the Mission for decades and a five year interior restoration began in early 1992.
All the work inside is either mortar or wood. There is no tile or marble because there was no money to purchase either. So artisans painted faux tile and marble on the walls and trim.
There was a small chapel on the grounds of the Mission with multiple religious statues.
Ron was enthralled by the variety of cacti in the area.
When we were walking to the small gift shop across the parking lot there was a prairie dog posing for pictures. LOL
Our next stop for the day – The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures. “The Mission of The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures is to share and preserve the artistic, historic and educational aspects of miniatures.” There are over 275 houses and room boxes in the collection.
Walking trough the front door of the museum gave us a small glimpse of what were were about to see inside.
Once inside we were immediately awed by the magnificent houses on display in the foyer.
It is hard to capture the beauty of the miniatures but we tried:
The details in the displays was incredible. Every piece is done to 1/12th scale. The staircase in the miniature home below is just perfect.
Every display offered something different and even Ron was quite impressed. I lost count on how many times he said WOW! Cousin Nancy would love this place!!!!
As we walked through the museum we commented many times on the incredible talent and dedications of the artisans that created the beautiful pieces on display. We have many more pictures – too may to post. But I think the ones posted are good examples of the detail involved. We really enjoyed the museum and would recommend it to anyone coming to the Tucson area.
It was another great day for us here in Tucson. Every day we find something new and different to do. The weather has been perfect – warm during the day and cool at night – great for touring and sleeping.
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