Suppose you are tired of the hustle and bustle of the Riverwalk and perhaps
longing to get back to the serenity you experienced at the Alamo.
It may come as a bit of a surprise that the Alamo is not
the only mission you can see in the environs of San
Antonio. Four Spanish missions are
owned and operated by the National Park Service, and their whimsical names
bring to mind gently swinging bronze bells, tall rounded spires topped with
rustic crosses, and brown- and-black-robed priests attending to wide-eyed
Indian children. These missions were not merely chapels but the center of faith
which bound everyone in the community with a common thread. The architecture
appears to have come straight from medieval Spain
and will add flair to your vacation memories.
Mission San Jose y
San Miguel de Aguayo. The name for this mission came from two
important people, one a saint (Joseph) and the other an early governor
(Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo). It is still used by parishioners, and
if you wish to attend the mass, you are encouraged to do so. This mission
was originally founded by a priest named Antonio Margil de Jesus.
Mission San
Juan Capistrano (no, not the mission
frequented by swallows!) had its beginning in 1716, but the location was
moved in later decades to where it now stands. The enlarged enclosure
contained not only a church but gardens and fields where Native Americans
produced food for their own survival. They also constructed tools and
performed other domestic duties.
Mission San Francisco
de la Espada was originally christened in 1690 before being moved
to the same location as its sister missions. One thing that makes this
particular spot interesting is its irrigation system, part of which is
still visible to the public. The origins of irrigation spread back
thousands of years, directly to the era of the Romans - who conquered
Hispania - and even further back in time.'
Mission Nuestra
Senora de la Concepcion de Acuna. This Spanish mission was moved
in 1731 to the spot it has long occupied. Time has done very little to
change this citadel of faith, and this mission has perhaps the most historically
preserved exterior of the four. Unusually enough, the Moorish artwork that
adorns the structure is of North African Muslim origin; the Moors occupied
Spain for
hundreds of years, and their architectural influence on the later
Christian populace was carried over to construction in the New
World.