New-York tribune., 1899-07-23
OUAINTHISTORIC CHURCHES
ONE IN ARIZONA SAID TO BE THREE
HUNDRED YEARS OLD
CLUB WOMEN DECLARE SAN XAVIER DEL BAG
TO DE THE MOST INTERESTINGLY
L. pHEGERNED.
rs WELL PRESERVED.

| rs WELL PRESERVED
which number OF club women have taken up re-
Gently they have found none more interesting than
| the Church OF San Xavier del Dac which IL said
| TO be one OF the oldest houses OF worship in the
| country According to history II was completed In
| 1894 In the valley OF Santa Cruz. about ten miles
south OF Tucson Ariz. Service Is longer held
| there The structure Is Of Byzantine and Moorish
architecture The frescoes scenes from the life
| OF Christ and the Virgin Mary. 1t Is the second
building of its kind in Arizona Both were erected
In pursuance of a scheme to establish circle or mis-
sions from Lorette to Monterey. Fathers Kino and
Juan Saliva TERRA are said to have been the orgi-
na.ors. They present at the laying OF the
cornerstone of the Church OF San Xavier. 1t took
thirty years to build the church.
The foundation walls are of fine brick. covered
with a smooth. thick layer of cement. The outside
of the walls are OF the same material; on the in
side they OF hewn cobblestones, also smeared
with the cement and handsomely stuccoed.
or q castelated style the building Is surmounted
by a dome and two mnarets OF Mosem architect
The front Is decorated with the coat Of arms
OF the Franciscan monks-a coil OF rope and two
arms One barred. is the arm OF Christ: the other,
clothed is that OF St. Francis OF Assist the founder
OF the order which bears his name. And bust of
the saint appears the right OF the of arms
at least what there is left of the bust. At each
angle OF the facing the remains OF griffins and
dragons Originally forty-eight. many of these fig
have been taken away by slghtseers. and those
that remain I'm a sad condition OF decay. Sur
rounding the tiled roof is a balustrade of brick and
cement. looking down upon tho old portico where
so many morning prayers were brcathed.
| In the form Of huge Latin cross is the interior
OF the church. -Four large paintings cover the i'm
menso ceiling and extend for some distance down
the arched sides They represent the Annuncation
the Visitation Of the Virgin to Elizabeth the Ma
tivity and the Visitation OF the Magi The ceiling
tself-JO feet from the noorlng-is supported by six
massive arches.
The Chapel Of the Mother of Sorrows is to the
right, and there firmly imbedded in the cement, is
large of ironwood 1t is covered with in
scriptions and characters most OF which may barely
be made out. In two OF the angles OF the main
archanges. According to the traditions OF tho
church they have the forms and faces of two daugh-
ters OF the artist and designer OF the decorations
over the doorway leading to the vestry Is cut the
name OF the builder OF the church. Pedro Bojar-
| 1t is said that the monks had gathered a colony
| of workers around them and that vineyards flour
ished and farms were fruitful, when. without warn
! ing. the missions declared con1scated by the
state. Loath TO believe that such was the case, the
! monks received the bad news without show Of
| feeling But when courier arrived telling them
that such was the fact and that even then an ennis
sary OF the state on his way take possession
OF the mission property, they began the work which
has eft & the o church rHn portable d PIE
gold and silver the heavy gold leaf taken
from the statues paintings were cut out from their
around uprooted, orchards were cut down and
the garden that had bloomed 80 sweetly was thing
And then the tears of the Indians whom they had
down the burros the sorrowful monks left
and he PACK cRa train for Were
the men Of God bade farewell 10 this country and
I1 to the the ola woT whence they had come
monument to their patient endeavors