San Antonio Missions

San Antonio, TX

If you’re not a big fan of Missions and historical architecture then you should skip this blog. I poked around in the Historic King William District in the afternoon, but the day was spent primarily visiting the 4 Missions founded in the San Antonio area that I hadn’t yet seen.

Each of the missions have similar history but they all have unique qualities as well. They were all originally founded in the mid-1700s, by the Franciscans who were spreading Christian teachings as well as teaching the Spanish culture and way of life. They brought the previous hunters and gatherers into a community culture and taught them skills necessary to that way of life (farming, ranching, building aqueducts for irrigation, use of firearms, etc). The Presidio and Spanich soldiers provided security and the Franciscans directed their work at putting massive stone walls around each of the Missions for protection from other first nations (Apache and Comanche).

By 1824 all of the missions had been turned over to the people (“secularized”) and the churches were turned over to the parish clergy. These missions eventually provided the foundation for the city of San Antonio.

I had seen the Mission San Antonio de Valero (later named the Alamo) so I started out this morning to see the other 4, starting with Mission San Jose, where the Visitor Centre for the National Park is also located. From there a parkway runs between the other three which I visited from north to south.

Mission San Jose was the most organized and had the largest church and has the most restoring done. The church was adorned with a beautiful, intricate Rose Window, and had a domed roof, which showed the high level of skill of the artisans.

Mission Conception is the mission that is the best preserved and has the most original parts of all the missions. It also has the best examples of the original frescos.

Mission San Juan and Espada both had much smaller churches and were in more rural settings and they were important sources of food for the region.

After visiting the Missions, I did poke around in the Historic King William District to find lunch. I went to the Blue Star Artisan Complex and found a micro-brewery called Blue Star Brewing Company. I had a great brisket sandwich and no beer. Then I took a bit of a walk around the area looking at and taking some discreet pictures of some of the beautiful historic houses.

I love the Missions so I took a whole pile more pictures of them, but really I’m sure it’s hard to appreciate if you haven’t been there.