San Xavier is the best preserved and the only one of the old Spanish missions still being used. For two centuries and more the Indians have been coming to this shrine, exemplifying their faith in Christianity as first introduced by the kindly padre Kino.
No mission excels San Xavier in serious design and pure artistry. It more completely embodies the elements which enter into mission architecture, that is, the architecture of the Spanish Renaissance modified by native influences, than any other, and stands a perfect example of its type. In reality San Xavier, which cannot be designated as an example of any one style, is a combination of the many influences that created the mission architecture of the Southwest. Not the least of these influences was the scarcity of artisans capable of executing the elaborate detail of the churches in the homeland and the fantastic Churrigueresque mode of vice-regal Mexico with which the padres were familiar. Also the building materials were for the most part confined to those available at the site. In view of these many limitations it is not surprising that the structures, executed largely by native workmen, reflected Indian influences.
About the only materials used in the construction of San Xavier Mission not native to the site were the iron bells and the hinges on the doors. The statuary for the most part, and the gilt used on interior decorative features, were probably brought from Mexico. According to legend, the clappers of the Arizona mission bells were made from a meteorite that fell in the Santa Rita Mountains nearby.
The architecture of San Xavier has traces of both Byzantine and Moorish styles. The lower half of the interior with its many brilliant decorations, statuettes, frescoes, and glitter of golden tones is partially Byzantine. The upper part reflects the Moorish style with stilted arches, domes, and fantastic windows. The distinctive towers and belfries were developed in Mexico and much of the accented yet restrained decoration suggests the influence of the Aztec.
The mission, except for the foundation, is constructed entirely of kiln-baked clay brick, covered with a white lime plaster. The pendentives and groins—even the roof including the huge dome, and the choir loft—are carried completely on vaulted arches. The ornamental features of the facade are of brick and plaster.
The foundation of stones imbedded in mortar, is nearly six feet thick under the front towers in order to support their great weight. The massive towers, with their arcaded belfries arranged in two stages, were of identical design. The one on the right, never having been completed, lacks the crowning dome and cupola of the one on the left, thereby destroying the otherwise perfect symmetry of the facade, though not detracting from the charm of the structure. A number of legends have arisen to account for the unfinished tower. It is said the King of Spain, anxious to increase his revenues, ruled that each church upon completion must pay a tax to the royal treasury. The astute padres left the church in a state that could not be considered completed. Another version relates that Ignacio Gaona, the mission builder, with but a few months of labor left, sustained a fatal injury in a fall off the unfinished tower which may account for its not being completed, as well as for the fact that the name of his assistant was inscribed on the Sacristy door, viz. “Pedro Bojourquez, 1797.”
The imposing silhouette of the towers is greatly enhanced by the flowing lines of their flying buttresses at each corner. These corner buttresses are arched across to the base of the upper belfry in the form of graceful scrolls. The platform around the lower stage of the belfry is protected by a balustrade of finely turned balusters.
The most decorative feature of the facade is the gabled entrance pavilion which, with its curvilinear silhouette and baroque detail, exemplifies the excesses of the late Spanish Renaissance and recalls the Churrigueresque embellishments of the Mexican cathedrals. The original ornamentations—arabesques, shells, niched figures, and swirling volutes in both low and high relief—appear in soft shades of red, the faded residue of the original vermilion paint.
The deeply recessed entrance portal is framed with a low unstilted classic arch. Its aged wooden doors are hewn from solid mesquite, swung on original hand-made hinges, and fastened with locks and bolts of the same period. The spandrels of the portal arch are adorned with rich floral arabesques. The portal is flanked by double columns, elaborately molded and decorated, and engaged to the face of broad pilasters. These columns are repeated in a superimposed ordinance flanking a central window. The window, admitting light to the choir loft within, has a delicate wooden balcony which casts a deep shadow over the entrance portal below. It is crowned with a large shell motif, symbolic of pilgrimage or baptism. Two other balconies of similar design accent the base of each tower at the same level. Decorative niched figures are placed between the columns. The upper figure on the left, with crown and royal robes, is variously described as representing either King Charles III of Spain or Saint Catherine. The black-robed figure below, though nearly effaced, is judged to be that of a lady saint. The upper figure on the right, with tambourine, is a representation of Saint Cecelia; the figure below, often blackened by the grease dripping from the candles of pious Indians who affirm that the saint cures their sore eyes, is thought to be an image of Saint Lucy. The gable of the entrance pavilion, in the form of a broken scroll pediment, is adorned with the arms of the Franciscan order, executed in high relief. The coat of arms consists of an escutcheon with a white ground against which are displayed a twisted cord, part of the Franciscan dress, and a cross bearing one arm of Jesus and one of Saint Francis. To the right of the escutcheon is the monogram of Jesus and to the left that of the Virgin. In the decoration above are two small Lions of Castile, and bunches of grapes signifying fertility. A broken bust of Saint Francis of Assisi surmounts the pediment.
Regarding the facade as a whole one is impressed with the striking contrast between the blank surfaces of the smooth outer walls and towers, and the concentrated decoration of the few wall openings. Over each of the lower windows in the towers is a delicate relief almost monastic in its simplicity. These windows are grilled with slender wooden spindles in the traditional Spanish manner.