Ysleta Mission, Spanish mission in El Paso, United States

Ysleta Mission is a white stucco church in Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, El Paso. Its left section has a stepped, curved parapet with an arched wooden door, a fanlight, a small round window and a niche holding a white statue between two crosses. A square bell tower on the right rises to a silver dome topped by a cross, with a round window and a louvered rectangular window below.

In 1680 the Pueblo Revolt drove the Tigua and Spanish settlers south from Isleta Pueblo to the Rio Grande, where New Mexico governor Antonio de Otermín established the mission. A permanent adobe church was dedicated in October 1682 by the Bishop of Tucson as La Misión de Corpus Christi de San Antonio de la Ysleta del Sur. Floods in the 1740s and 1829 damaged or destroyed it, and the 1829 flood shifted the river so the site lay in the Republic of Texas. The present look dates from an 1897 remodeling and a 1908 rebuilding after a fire.

The Tigua people remain closely tied to the church and loyal to their patron saint, Anthony of Padua. His feast day, San Antonio, is observed on June 13 with a morning mass followed by traditional dancing. The Tigua Tribal Government offices and the Tigua Cultural Center stand a short distance from the church.

The mission stands on Socorro Road (FM 258), part of the El Paso Mission Trail that runs about 9 miles toward Socorro and San Elizario. The old church is now used mainly for weddings, quinceañeras and baptisms, while regular parish Masses are held in the newer church built in the 1960s. Check which building is open before planning a visit.

The 1907 fire that damaged the church started with chemicals kept in the bell tower to repel bats. The building was rebuilt in 1908 and has kept that form since. The parish also holds handwritten baptismal, marriage and burial records, with surviving collections such as those from 1772 to 1956.