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PICTURE 2-33
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PICTURE 12-2
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PICTURE 1-17
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PICTURE 85-26
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 del Bac is situated in the Santa Cruz Valley nine miles south of Tucson, Arizona. The Tohono Oodham settlement in which the Mission is located was called Bac, place where the water appears, because the Santa Cruz River, which ran underground for some distance, reappears on the surface nearby. Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, first visited Bac in 1692 and laid the foundations of the first church, some two miles north of the present site of the Mission, in 1700. The present church was built from 1783 - 1797 by Franciscans Juan Bautista Velderrain and Juan Bautista Llorenz. Little is know about the actual labor of the construction of the church, who was the architect, who were the artisans, but many believe it was the Tohono Oodham who fufilled these roles. Its brick walls are six feet thick in some places and are coated with a limestone-based plaster with a formula that includes the juice from prickly pear cactus pads. Why the one tower was never completed is still a mystery. San Xavier del Bac is a magnet to those that appreciate art, statues, sculptures and paintings of its original times. The interior is filled with brightly painted carvings of apostles and saints and ornate statues that are actually draped in real clothing.'))
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. Kino arrived in the area in 1687 and established a base for his work in the village of Cosari, also known as Barmotze. The town was given a \“Christian name\”, Nuestra Senora de los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows). From here, Kino ministered for 24 years, establishing missions as far north as Tucson until his death at Magdalena in 1711. His remains, in their original resting place, can be viewed under glass and a domed enclosure in the memorial plaza at Magdalena de Kino, Sonora.'))
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. The town also offers an abundance of locally made pottery in pre-Columbian motif. This image was taken from the old town square, which was built in front of the church. This area produces a lot of Mangos which are for sale everywhere along the road.')){kind=spacer}
. The town also offers an abundance of locally made pottery in pre-Columbian motif. There is an old style town square, built in front of the church. This area produces a lot of Mangos which are for sale everywhere along the road..')){kind=spacer}
. The town also offers an abundance of locally made pottery in pre-Columbian motif. There is an old style town square, built in front of the church. This area produces a lot of Mangos which are for sale everywhere along the road.')){kind=spacer}
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 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Since 1894, the church has been in continuous use. St. Nicholas church has the distinction of being the oldest, continual use Orthodox structure in Southeast Alaska.'))
. The German settlers organized a Lutheran congregation in 1893. For the first 13 years, services were held in members\' homes and the town hall. Construction did not occur until 1906 when the town founder, Heinrich Lutkens, donated the land and the material, Pastor Karl Kilian, who served these mountain dwellers from 1906 to 1933, designed this elegant structure, and the town\'s people built it. The church has a 4-foot iron cross on top of the 46-foot bell tower-steeple which houses its original bell (from a railroad locomotive). Many original items such as a Farrand and Votey bellows organ manufactured in Detroit Michigan, the original altar, one original pew, and the original \'Klingelbeutel\' (a small red velvet bag with a bell on it to collect offerings) can be found inside. The congregation still holds services every third Sunday of the month from March through November at 2:30pm. The building, which ranks as one of the smallest churches in our nation, has been on the National Register of Historical Places since 1976. The town name, Elbe, reflects the founders\' origin, the Elbe river valley near Hamburg Germany.'))
