The furthest south of the four Spanish missions in San Antonio Missions Natinal Historic Park is Mission Espada. It is not right on the San Antonio River, but is not far from it. This mission was founded in 1690 near present-day Weches, Texas as San Francisco de los Tejas. Like Mission San Juan it was moved to the San Antonio River area. The current mission was built in 1731 and renamed Mission San Francisco de la Espada. This one felt the most like an active parish with the parking right next to the church and the parish offices on the other side.
The church itself is small. I like how the bells were visible above the main entrance.
The inside takes you back to the 1700s when this area was controlled by Spain.
Right next to the church is the convento with the church offices in a section of the wall that is intact. I am not sure if this section was maintained or rebuilt.
The south east corner of the mission has the NPS visitor information center and a small museum. An overview of this National Historic park is in the first post of this series about Mission San Juan. As with most National Park units, you should check the NPS Website's San Antonio Missions NHP Page for current status and more information.
https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-espada
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Mission Concepcion is the furthest north mission in San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. Unlike the others that have the courtyards and walls, this one currently has only the church building. Mission Concepcion was originally founded in 1716 as Mission Nuestra Seora de la Pursima Concepcin de Acua in eastern Texas. It was to serve as a buffer against the French in Louisiana. In 1731, like other missions it moved to the San Antonio River area. The stone church took 15 years to build and was dedicated in 1755. This church is the only one in the park that has two bell towers.
This is the fourth part of our series on San Antonio Missions NHP which also includes: Mission San Juan, Mission Espada and Mission San Jose.
Before going into the main church, you pass through some side rooms showing frescos which covered most of front of the church and the convento rooms.
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Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, founded in 1720, is the largest of the four Spanish missions making up the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. It has had the most reconstruction and is also the location of the main visitor center. The church is on the far side of the courtyard from the visitor center. It is the largest church of the four missions. This was also known as "Queen of the Missions" and is the best one to see how the missions were more than just the churches; they were also communities where Native Americans lived.
The church is made of limestone and has Spanish colonial Baroque architecture and statuary.
It has an arched ceiling, a dome and a choir loft.
https://mountainadventures.us/post/san-antonio-missions-nhp-mission-san-jose
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San Antonio Missions National Historic Park is a set of four 18th century Spanish missions. These five missions make up a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only one in Texas.
All four are near the San Antonio River, south of the Alamo. The Mission Section of the River Walk trail lets you walk or bike along the San Antonio River to the four missions. Its north end is at the downtown section of the San Antonio River Walk which you can take to get about a block from the Alamo. There is also a driving route on the official map that I used.
I started my visit to these Spanish missions at the second furthest south one - Mission San Juan. Founded further east in Texas in 1716, it was moved here in 1731. By 1756 it had 256 Native Americans living here in addition to the missionaries.
All four of the mission have churches that are still active. Mission San Juan and two of the others are not large inside. This was the second church built here.
The style of the missions was to have the granaries, living ...
