Magdalena Tour

Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico

 

Magdalena has been a terminus for pilgrims for centuries. The bi-national region now known as Arizona and Sonora has been crisscrossed by trails used by Indigenous peoples throughout the generations and later leveraged by the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries and Spanish settlers. Many of these same roads are the ones we use today except now they are interstate highways in two countries or paved roads for automobiles.

The Sonoran Desert is a sacred place and to get a better feel for it you have to spend time walking through it. You can then start to absorb its diversity and admire its ability to not only survive but thrive in such extremes. Magdalena is close in elevation to Tucson, so you will also find abundant Saguaro cactus in the community’s environs. The frost-sensitive plant does not grow at higher elevations like Nogales, which is nearly 4,000 feet in elevation.

Instead, you find an open Emory oak forest studded landscape of the Upper Sonoran Desert or Sky Islands as they are called. The border town is where many pilgrims begin their journey to “pagar la manda” or pay the saint in proof of faith - the will to walk 60 miles of sacred road to Magdalena to visit the reclining figure of Saint Francis Xavier- in return for a spiritual request. The chapel which houses the saint on the monumental plaza of Magdalena de Kino is the terminus or final destination for thousands of pilgrims.

These pilgrims are tri-national representing the Tohono O’odham Nation, Mexico, and the United States and this tradition has been bringing them to this special place for at least three centuries. Nearby the chapel is another monument, the crypt of Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino, whose earthly remains you can peer down and see under a beautiful mural of the cultural landscape the Jesuit explorer put forth in an area he called the Pimería Alta.

You are invited to make a historical and intercultural pilgrimage with us to Magdalena to experience this heritage and legacy first-hand. Click here for upcoming tours.

Borderlandia’s day trips are an ideal introduction to the culture of northern Sonora and the hospitality of its people. We travel along the route of the pilgrims in the comfort of an 18-passenger Mercedes Sprinter, stopping along the way in San Ignacio de Caborica, another mission of Padre Kino on an easy day trip. This pueblo mágico will surprise you with its beautiful plaza and colorful mural depicting its history.

Don’t see a date you are interested in, write us for availability for a private guide for hire.