Self-Guided Tour - Convento Fragment

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Quick Facts

Location:

Tumacácori mission grounds

Only portions of the original three-sided convento complex remain today: the two-story storeroom at the northwest corner, and this fragment. Just ahead of you was the arched entrance into the convento courtyard, graced by a small dome above. The priest also lived in this wing of the complex.  

Originally, Tumacácori was only a visita – a visiting station for Catholic missionaries. It wasn’t until 1768 that Tumacácori became a cabecera – a mission that housed a resident priest. This likely caused a significant disturbance for the O’odham of Tumacácori. With only occasional visits from the priest, they could openly continue their traditional religious and social practices. Now, under the watchful eye of a resident priest, they had to conceal those practices in order to model Spanish and Catholic values.  

This structure continued to serve the Tumacácori community long after the mission era. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, this remaining section of the convento served as a residence, a school, and later housed the museum of the fledgling Tumacácori National Monument. A herringbone-pattern floor currently duplicates and protects the original floor beneath one room. More than any other structure here it has seen many preservation techniques tried to protect it.