| What makes it historical? |
The original inhabitants of this area called themselves the Sobaipuri, and they called this place Tumacácori. Whether that was a description of their rocky surroundings or a place to find chiles, no one today really knows. What we do know is that Jesuit Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino visited this site in 1691, found it suitable to build a mission, and added Mission San Cayetano de Tumacácori to his growing list of missions (twenty-four by the end of his career)!
Mission San Cayetano lasted until November 21, 1751 when a revolt by the O’odham people, which included the Sobaipuri, shut down the mission system in Arizona. The mission moved across the Santa Cruz River and became the San José de Tumacácori that we see today!
The main mission church is built in an Egyptian-Moorish style and was once brightly colored. It even incorporated some of the scallop shell decorations that I grew to love along El Camino de Santiago de Compostela! |
