White Dove of the Desert

Friday, Feb 3…

Mission San Xavier del Bac

Today we visited one of Arizona’s iconic sites, Mission San Xavier. The main building (left) is apparently pictured in just about any/all AZ tourist literature. There’s a ton of interesting history, but – in brief – this structure was built from 1783-1797, and the last Franciscan priest returned to Spain in 1837. Left vacant, the buildings began to decay. Over the next 140 years the mission was managed by several different groups, with sporadic efforts to repair and maintain the cathedral. Serious restoration began in the 1980s, and the interior of the mission has been returned to its historic splendor. Work continues on the exterior.                                                                                             (Find lots more details at https://en.wikipedia.org).

Main Chancel

Contrasting Facades

Restored (left), work in process (right)

(optical illusion)

Yellow jackets are apparently a problem .
(not sure what the bucket's for)

I liked this little building.
(Little in comparison to the cathedral, 
that is. It's a good 30' high.)

BlogThoughts... We didn't take the official tour of the cathedral, but we did catch a video presentation that detailed the interior restoration process. It was fascinating (and my recap won't be nearly so detailed or fascinating). The first discovery was that the cement-based stucco used to repair the exterior in the 1980s had trapped water inside the church that damaged the decorations. It was replaced with traditional mud plaster incorporating pulp from the prickly pear cactus, a mixture that allows excess moisture to escape. (All of which is great news--the downside is that it requires more frequent inspection and has higher maintenance costs.) 
A team of professional European conservators were hired to properly restore the interior, which took 5 years of unbelievably painstaking (but highly rewarding) work. It took two years to complete just the main altar - a difficult process requiring chemicals to clean and protect the gold and silver leaf coverings.  Restoration is truly an art in its own right.
Two other quick comments on this visit: 1. I was so focused on taking artsy photos that I forgot to take a basic overall shot and had to borrow one from the Internet to use with the opening paragraph. 2. You'll notice that only the left tower has a dome. Work on the right tower isn't finished yet so I figured that dome would be replaced when the other repairs were completed. Nope. There never was a right dome. (No idea why.)