Self-Guided Tour - Community Plaza

symbol of four figures standing together

Quick Facts

Location:

Tumacácori visitor center

At its peak of activity, this bustling community space served as the backdrop to the lives of nearly 200 mission residents. People walked from here to attend church services, engage in work in the convento, or to go into the fields, gardens, and orchards between the plaza and the river.

The long, low mound to the left of the sidewalk protects what remains of adobe residences connected in a line running north to south. The ramada to the right resembles a mission family’s outdoor cooking and living area. Take a moment to imagine the mission community as it once was – the sounds of animals, children running and playing in the plaza, oxen and carts coming and going. Here is a village at work.  

Many different languages could be heard in the plaza. Some priests came from Spain, but others from Austria, Switzerland, Italy, or Bavaria. The O’odham had many dialects. The Yoeme, now referred to as the Yaqui, spoke a totally separate language. The Nde, now called the Apache, shared linguistic roots with the Navajo. 

The proximity of neighbors in the mission core differs from traditional O’odham villages. There, family households might be generally clustered together, but did not share walls, enclosed spaces, or other facilities. The density of the closely-packed mission community likely  contributed to the spread of European diseases such as measles, smallpox, and typhus.