and now we were heading out to a part of the mission we didn't see the last time I was here in 2018. I cover more about this area using the NPS audio to go with my movie and photos: [ youtube video ] The photos here are of the church this fragment of the 3-sided complex of rooms which remains because of its original height, size, and adaptive reuse after the mission's abandonment.

Convento Fragment
Although commonly confused with the term “convent,” Tumacácori’s convento had nothing to do with housing for nuns. The convento was the operational part of the mission. It functioned as a shared, community workspace and governmental center. It would have been alive with the sounds of people talking, working, and moving about.

Originally, Tumacácori was only a visita—a visiting station for Catholic missionaries. It wasn’t until 1768 that Tumacácori became a cabecera—a mission that housed a resident priest. This likely caused a significant disturbance for the O’odham of Tumacácori. With only occasional visits from the priest, they could openly continue their traditional religious and social practices. Now, under the watchful eye of a resident priest, they had to conceal those practices in order to model Spanish and Catholic values.