The Dove Of The Desert

As you drive south from Tucson, the only thing in view is the desert.  But at one point to the west a beautiful white structure,  Mission San Xavier del Bac,  becomes visible in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. It is an active Catholic Mission, tending to the needs of the Tohono O'odham people who live on the reservation and is open to the public except during masses. Almost a quarter million people visit it annually.

The Mission was founded by Father Kino in 1692 as one of a chain of Missions he established in the Sonoran desert during the 17th century.  They are split between what is now southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. As the oldest European structure in Arizona, it is considered to be the finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States.

The extras are a view of the outside structure which is what earned its Dove of the Desert label, a tighter view of the blip and one of the side chapels.