File:Looking toward the altar you can see the remains of the once magnificent nave. Here Spanish settlers and native people took (28aba2b9-0577-4e89-b3b3-4fbd2e49adda).JPG

panoramic view of long nave with adobe walls, plaster is missing, door to baptistry on the right

Looking toward the altar you can see the remains of the once magnificent nave. Here Spanish settlers and native people took their places at the holy Mass. Notice that there are no pews. The people stood or knelt during the services. There are no side chapels. The church is in the form of a long hall, rather than a cross. Lining the walls are four side altars where individuals lit candles and said specific prayers to statues of saints in the niches above. The church was abandoned in 1848. The roof was soon removed and local settlers used the original timber for construction elsewhere. It was first replaced in 1921, but the nave was exposed to the elements for over sixty years. Damage is extensive, but a closer look reveals a compelling story of life at Tumacácori. Hundreds of people received communion here. Two priests who helped build the present church were buried below the altar steps, then later moved to Mission San Xavier del Bac in 1935. The replaced floor and holes in the walls tell of fortune hunters.

• Keywords: nave; church; iglesia; adobe; tumacacori; tumacácori