Q. How do you pronounce the name of this place?

A. Enunciate vowels as in Spanish with accent on the second “a.” (Too-muh-kä’-ko-ree)

Q. What is the meaning of Tumacácori?

A. “Tumacácori” is a Spanish phonetic rendition of the O’odham name for their village. Although we do not know what the O’odham word, or words, may originally have been, one possible translation, if the actual words were “chu-uma kakul,” would be “rocky flat place.”

Q. When were the walls and visitor center built?

A. In 1937.

Q. Why doesn’t the Park Service restore the church?

A. The Park Service mandate from Congress is to preserve the church as a ruin. This allows you to look into history and see the work that the O’odham Indians did 200 years ago, rather than what the Park Service did recently.

Q. How much of the church is original?

A. Nearly everything with the exception of the roof and the floor is original. Of course new lime plaster is put on the exterior walls as needed and the dome and sacristy roof are white washed to prevent moisture from deteriorating the adobe blocks.

Q. What are the square boxes in the ground in front of the church?

A. Cisterns for storage and distribution of water.

Q. How do you get to Calabazas and Guevavi?

A. Neither of these two missions is presently open to the public. Guided tours are by reservation on selected Wednesdays, October through March.

Q. Is Mass ever held at Tumacácori?

A. Mass is held yearly on the first Sunday of December during the Tumacácori Fiesta. It is held in front of the church due to the large number of people in attendance. An historic mass is held in the church once each year in October in conjunction with Anza Days at Tubac Presidio State Historic Park.

Q. Why were the Jesuits expelled?

A. The expulsion of the Jesuits is a complex subject, but the heart of the matter lies in politics and greed. France and Portugal were the first countries to expel them. When Carlos III, King of Spain, became convinced in 1767 that they were in a conspiracy against him, he had those in his realm arrested and brought to Spain, where they were locked in prison and later sent into exile. The movement against the Jesuits was carried to Rome where Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Order in 1773. It was not until 1814 that Pope Pius VII restored them to their former standing as an Order in the Catholic Church.