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The five San Antonio Missions were founded in the 18th century along the San Antonio River.
They were founded via partnership between the Spanish Government and the Catholic Church.
The five missions are Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan, Espada, and, of course, the Alamo.
Together Missions Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan and Espada comprise the San Antonio Missions
Historical Park. The four aforementioned missions also still serve as active Catholic Parishes.
The exception being the Alamo which is owned and operated by the state of Texas. Each of
the missions is unique and very distinctive.
Mission Concepcion was founded in 1716. It was the site of the first major battle between
Mexico (Col. Ugartecha) and the Texas insurgents (James Bowie) on Oct. 28, 1835. Most experts
cite it as being the best preserved of the Texas Missions.
Mission San Jose was founded in 1720 after the Mission San Antonio Alamo de Valero become
overcrowded. A new church was constructed in 1768 and the lands were given to the Indicans
in 1794. It is very well known for its beautiful Rose Window.
Mission San Juan was founded in current location in 1731. It is well known locally to
several reasons. One of the reasons was that there was a heist of priceless Spanish colonial
statues stolen in 2001 that have never been recovered. A second reason was the recent (in 2012)
2.2 million dollar remodeling and structure stabilization.
Mission Esplada was originally founded in 1690 in Weches, Texas and was the first Mission
established in Texas. It was relocated in 1731 to its current location. Its archecture has
influenced several area church buildings.
In 2015 the Missions were named by UNESCO a World Heritage Site.
If you live or visit San Antonio and would like to visit our Missions you can download
a pdf map at the visitsanantonio.com website. They also provide other valuable
information for visitors.
I will be writing on the Alamo in more depth in a later blog.
Other websites you might also enjoy gathering information on would
oldspanishmissions.org
npsd.gov/saan
missionsofsanantonio.org
Clark Niblock
210 416 5940
#SanAntoniosBestRealtors
For addtional information as well oldspanishmissions.org
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