Border Region

Coastal Sonora

Northern Sonora

Altar

Caborca

Imuris

Magdalena

Pitiquito

Santa Ana

Trincheras

Central Sonora

Southern Sonora

Plaza Benito Juarez in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora

Magdalena de Kino

The pueblo of Magdalena de Kino has approximately 25,000 residents and is located in Northern Sonora, a short drive from the Arizona-Sonora border.  The town was originally established by Jesuit priest Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1688, as the Santa Maria Magdalena de Buquivaba mission.  

Father Kino’s remains are on display in a crypt built near the temple of Saint Mary Magdalene and the Plaza Monumental. Nearby is a shopping plaza where a variety of Mexican products are offered for sale.

Another destination in Magdalena is the mausoleum of native son Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta and his wife Diana Laura. Colosio was assassinated while campaigning as the PRI presidential candidate in 1994, and his vision and powerful messages for the people of Mexico are memorialized there.

Magdalena has two major festivals every year.  The first, a cultural festival held in late May, is to commemorate Padre Kino.  The other is the Fiestas de San Francisco Javier, from the last week of September through the first week of October.  If you’re driving on Highway 15 south of Nogales during that time, you’ll see hundreds of the faithful walking from the US-Mexico border to Magdalena to commemorate the event.

More photos of Magdalena de Kino

Photos from the Fiestas de San Francisco Javier

Lodging

Lodging options in Magdalena

For More Information

Viva Magdalena

Tomb of Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino

Shrine to San Francisco Javier

The Virgen of Guadalupe, painted on a hillside outside of Magdalena