Stop 04 of 8
St. Augustine Cathedral
The mother church of Tucson. A 600-year-old cross. And a woman in black who doesn't behave like the living.
The History
St. Augustine Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson. The first chapel was built by Father Donato and his parishioners in the 1860s when Tucson was little more than a village. It was part of the Spanish fort that occupied the grounds, and the soldiers frequented the one-room sanctuary. The church was expanded, rebuilt, and restored several times over the decades. The crown jewel is the 17-foot, 2,000-pound Pamplona Crucifix, over 600 years old and carved in Spain.
The Hauntings
A persistent sighting through the decades is that of a woman dressed in black, walking to and fro in front of the church. She has appeared at all hours, day and night, and is described as a woman in mourning. Several people have reported approaching her only to watch her turn her head around, and around, and around. No one has arrived at a satisfactory explanation for her presence at the cathedral steps.
This is stop 04 of 8 on the full tour route. The tour covers all of them in 90 minutes.
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