6.5 miles away
Veterans Memorial Stadium
The 11,500-seat main ballpark of Tucson's Kino Sports Complex, opened in 1998 and home to the Tucson Saguaros since 2016.
Mission San Xavier del Bac
A Spanish Catholic mission south of Tucson, founded in 1692 and rebuilt by 1797, making it the oldest European structure in Arizona.
- Rank in Arizona
- #13of 727 ranked
- Overall score
- Score 67.5 out of 100medium confidence
- Category
- Historic Site
Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission about 10 miles south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the San Xavier Indian Reservation of the Tohono O'odham Nation. It was founded in 1692 by Eusebio Kino at the centre of a centuries-old settlement of the Sobaipuri O'odham, a branch of the Akimel or River O'odham living along the banks of the Santa Cruz River, and was named for Francis Xavier, co-founder of the Jesuit Order. The original church stood north of the later Franciscan church and was demolished during an Apache raid in 1770. The mission was rebuilt between 1783 and 1797, with labour provided by the O'odham, which makes it the oldest European structure in Arizona. An example of Spanish Colonial architecture, it receives some 200,000 visitors a year and is a pilgrimage site reached on foot and on horseback, some visitors travelling in ceremonial cavalcades, or cabalgatas. The site is known in the O'odham language as Wa:k, meaning "water place", after surface water and springs that no longer flow.
Where it is
Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic site near Tucson, in Pima County. It is one of the historic sites in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.
How this ranking was reached
No official visitor count is published for Mission San Xavier del Bac, so its score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. That is why the medium confidence above is not higher. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page, and every axis is broken out under Facts and sources at the foot of this page.
Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.
Sources
- Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
- Coordinates and designations: Wikidata(opens in a new tab)
- County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
- Official site: https://www.sanxaviermission.org/(opens in a new tab)
Record last verified 2026-08-12.
More photographs
w_lemay, CC BY-SA 2.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab) 
w_lemay, CC BY-SA 2.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab)
Nearby attractions
7.2 miles away
Sentinel Peak
A 2,897-foot peak south-west of downtown Tucson, carrying the University of Arizona's block letter A since the 1910s.
7.4 miles away
Tumamoc Hill
An 860-acre ecological reserve and National Historic Landmark west of downtown Tucson, established by the Carnegie Institution in 1903.7.6 miles away
ASARCO Mineral Discovery Center
A Green Valley mining museum with exhibits on mining history and practice, open-pit mine tours, and a gift shop of local artisan work.
7.7 miles away
Philabaum Glass Gallery & Studio
Philabaum Glass Gallery & Studio, in Tucson, Arizona, has offered glassblowing demonstrations and contemporary glass art since Tom Philabaum built it in 1975.
7.8 miles away
El Tiradito
A shrine in downtown Tucson, standing since at least 1891, to a man who died in sin and could not be buried on consecrated ground.
Facts and sources
Place
- Category
- Historic Site
- Destination
- Tucson
- County
- Pima County
- State
- Arizona
- Designations
- National Historic Landmark · National Register of Historic Places listed place
Visitation
- Annual visits
- Not published
Ranking
- Overall score
- 67.5 / 100
- Visitation score
- No published count
- Popularity score
- 61.0
- Significance score
- 73.0
- Confidence
- medium
Visiting
- Official website
- sanxaviermission.org(opens in a new tab)
- Coordinates
- 32.1070, -111.0080
- Last verified
- 2026-08-12