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Beginning in the 16th centurySpain establishedmissions throughoutNew Spain (consisting ofMexico and portions of what today are theSouthwestern United States) in order to facilitate colonization of these lands.

The indigenous peoples of Arizona remained unknown to European explorers until 1540 whenSpanishexplorerPedro de Tovar (who was part of theCoronado expedition) encountered theHopi while searching for the legendarySeven Cities of Gold. Contact with Europeans remained infrequent until three missions were established in 1629 in what is now northeastern Arizona.

In 1680, thePueblo Revolt resulted in the destruction of all three missions, greatly limiting Spanish influence in the region. Subsequent attempts to reestablish the missions in Hopi villages were met with repeated failures. The former mission is still visible today as a ruin.

In the spring of 1687, theJesuit missionaryEusebio Francisco Kino lived and worked with the Native Americans in the area called thePimería Alta, or "Upper Pima Country," which presently includes the Mexican state ofSonora and the southern portion ofArizona. During Father Eusebio Kino's stay in thePimería Alta, he founded over twenty^[quantify] missions in eight mission districts. In Arizona, unlike Mexico, missionization proceeded slowly.

Father Kino founded missionsSan Xavier andSan Gabriel at the Piman communities of Bac and Guevavi along theSanta Cruz River.

Following theexpulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, theFranciscans from the college of Santa Cruz inQuerétaro took over responsibility in the Pimería Alta missions. Meanwhile, other Franciscans from the college of San Fernando in Mexico City under the leadership ofJunípero Serra, were assigned to replace the Jesuits in theBaja California missions of the lowerLas Californias Province.

Under the administration of Franciscanfriar andexplorerFrancisco Garcés, three additional missions were established with the goal of establishing a permanent connection between the missions of Las Californias and Pimería Alta. However, following aQuechan raid in 1781 that destroyed two mission near present-dayYuma, the two regions remained isolated. This greatly limited the expansion of Spanish influence throughout the lowerColorado River.

Following theMexican War of Independence and the expulsion of all Spanish-born priests from the region in 1828, the remaining missions were gradually abandoned.Mission San Xavier del Bac was the last mission to be abandoned, with the last priest leaving for Spain in 1837.

List of missions in Arizona, from year of first established

Name	Image	Location	Date founded	Order	Notes	Sources
Mission San Francisco de Oraibi		35.87344, -110.63634	1629 (1629)	Franciscans	Destroyed during the1680 Pueblo Revolt. In ruins.
Mission San Bernardo de Aguatubi		35.72529, -110.27803	1629 (1629)	Franciscans	Destroyed during the1680 Pueblo Revolt. Rebuilt in the 1690s before it and the surrounding village was destroyed in 1700. In ruins.	[1]
Mission San Bartolomé de Shungópove		Second Mesa	1629 (1629)	Franciscans	Destroyed during the1680 Pueblo Revolt.	[2]
Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi		31.41007, -110.90198	1691 (1691)	Jesuits	Abandoned in 1775. The church ruins date to 1751. It later became a visita ofSan José de Tumacacori around 1773.	[3]
Mission San Xavier del Bac		32.10723, -111.00797	1692 (1692)	Jesuits	1692–1770, 1783–1837, 1859–present. The extant mission church was completed in 1797.	[4][5]
Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas		31.45252, -110.95945	1756 (1756)	Jesuits	It was founded as a visita ofMission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi (and some time after servedMission San José de Tumacácori). It later became a mission but was downgraded back to a visita ofMission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi in 1784. Abandoned in 1786.	[6][7][8]
Mission San José de Tumacácori		31.56861, -111.0509	1757 (1757)	Jesuits	Located west of the site of the visitaSan Cayetano del Tumacácori. Abandoned in 1828.	[9][10]
Mission San Cosme y Damián de Tucsón		32.2148, -110.98463	1768 (1768)	Franciscans	Established as avisita in 1692. Elevated to the status of mission in 1768. Abandoned in 1828. Non-extant.	[11]
Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción		32.73053, -114.61557	October 1780 (1780-10)	Franciscans	Located inCalifornia but administered as part of thePimería Alta missions. Destroyed during aQuechan raid from July 17–19, 1781. Non-extant. Areconstruction of the mission was completed in 1923, which currently serves as aparish church.
Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer		32.81636, -114.51511	January 7, 1781 (1781-01-07)	Franciscans	Located inCalifornia but administered as part of thePimería Alta missions. Destroyed during aQuechan raid from July 17–19, 1781. Non-extant.	[12]

On Spanish Missions in neighboring regions:

• Spanish missions in California
• Spanish missions in New Mexico
• Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert (including Sonora and southern Arizona)

On general missionary history:

• Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery
• List of the oldest churches in Mexico

On colonial Spanish American history:

• Spanish colonization of the Americas
• California mission clash of cultures

• National Park Service, Kino Missions
• Arizona Education, Kino Missions

• Spanish missions in Arizona
• New Spain
• Colonial Mexico
• Colonial United States (Spanish)
• Jesuit history in North America
• History of Catholicism in the United States
• Spanish colonization of the Americas
• Spanish Colonial architecture in Arizona
• Former Spanish colonies

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