San Valentin del Bizani
The mission at San Valentine del Bizani is located in the desert a few miles west of Caborca off of state highway 003, the road to Puerto Peñasco.
Jesuit priest Father Eusebio Francisco Kino first visited this site on February 14, 1694, and baptized the land in the name of Saint Valentine. The land, which now also contains the graves of local Papago Indians, is sacred land to the Tohono O’odham Nation, and is known in their language as “Vi’isiñ,”or “what remains.”
The first chapel was built here by Father Kino in 1706, and a second chapel was built on the site in 1768. The mission never had a resident priest, but was instead visited on occasion by traveling missionaries from Caborca. It was however a major meeting place for the local Papagos, also known today as the Tohono O’odham.
When the Franciscan priests took control of the Jesuit missions in 1771, visiting priest Juan Díaz reported that the mission existed as a small adobe chapel, without any ornaments or utinsels for worship. The remains of that adobe structure can still be seen today.
