Cost

It is FREE to enter all five Missions but there is a nominal fee for guided or narrative tours.

Transportation

Bus: The VIVA bus line stops at all five Missions and will run you $2.50 for a regular fare.

Biking: San Antonio has a great bike trail running parallel to the San Antonio River spanning just under 10 miles from the southern Mission San Francisco de la Espada to the northern Misión San Antonio de Valero. Park at Mission Espada and start from here. The gates close at 5:00pm but will open for outgoing traffic from the parking lot.

Auto: There is free parking at all of the Missions with the exception of The Alamo but there are several paid parking areas within a couple of blocks.

Mission San Antonio de Valero – The Alamo

The Alamo, founded in 1718, was the first mission in San Antonio, serving as a way station between east Texas and Mexico to educate the Native American Indians after their conversion to Christianity. The Mission was abandoned seventy-five years later after it was secularized. In 1803, Spanish militiamen, who were also referred to as Lancers, stationed themselves at the abandoned Mission. The grove of cottonwood trees, which remain today, gave the new fort its name El Alamo, which is the Spanish word for cottonwood.

Mexico was eventually able to oust the Spaniards from The Alamo during their successful war for independence in the 1820’s. In December 1835, during Texas’ war for independence from Mexico, a group of Texan volunteer soldiers occupied The Alamo after Mexico abandoned the fortress. On February 23, 1836, a Mexican force numbering in the thousands and led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna began a siege of the fort. Though vastly outnumbered, the Alamo’s 200 defenders–commanded by James Bowie and William Travis and including the famed frontiersman Davy Crockett–held out courageously for 13 days before the Mexican invaders finally overpowered them. For Texans, the Battle of the Alamo became an enduring symbol of their heroic resistance to oppression and their struggle for independence, which they won later that year.

Mission San Jose

Mission San Jose was founded in 1797 to also lay Spain’s claim to the land and teach the native people Christianity and the Spaniards way of life. The Mission was primarily home to the Ohlones Indians. They were self-sustaining and grew their own seeds, roots, berries, acorn meal, small game and seafood.

Although the mission stopped operating in 1824, it baptized over 2,000 Native American Indians. The church was not the main function of the Mission, it was the focus. Among the notable features you will see are the church’s carvings and the famous “Rose Window,” considered one of the finest pieces of Spanish Colonial ornamentation in the country.

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísma Concepción de Acuña

The church at Concepcion looks essentially as it did more than 200 years ago, when it stood at the center of local religious activity. The mission was well known for its religious celebrations.

Upon the mission’s foundation, approximately 300 Native Americans arrived at the Mission to live and create their community. They were responsible for the construction of acequias (irrigation ditches) and the initiation of cultivated agriculture.

Construction of the main church building took around twenty years and finished in 1755. In 1756, the temporary Native American quarters were rebuilt in stone to form a defensive perimeter around the mission grounds.

Once completion, the Mission compound included a plaza, the church, and the convento, which housed the priests’ living quarters as well as the refectory and work space. The Native American living quarters formed the compound’s inner wall, which also contained other necessities such as animal pens, a granary, and a well. In essence, the mission was a self-sufficient, self-contained village surrounded by irrigated agricultural lands.

Mission San Francisco de la Espada

The Spaniards founded Mission Espada in 1690 near Weches, Texas as the second Mission established in Texas. However a smallpox epidemic shortly afterward in the winter of 1690 killed an estimated 3,000 people in the area. The Nabedache Native American tribe believed the Spaniards’ spirits had caused the deaths, which created hostilities between the two groups.

In 1692, the Nabedache tribe drove the Spanish priests from the Mission and later burned it to the ground. There was an attempt to reestablish the Mission in 1719 but Spain was unable to reach an agreement with France over the territory. In 1731, Mission San Francisco de la Espada was established at its current location to offset the French encroachment and to protect the San Antonio de Bexar’s Indian population.

The Franciscan padres worked to make it as much like a Spanish village as possible by training the natives in many useful vocations—including carpentry, masonry, stonecutting, and brick-making.

In 1826, a fire destroyed most of the Mission buildings at Espada, with only the chapel, granary, and two of the compound walls remaining. As the Apache Native American tribes continued their attacks on the Mission, all hope of a recovery dwindled.

In September of 1831, the Governor of Coahuila and Texas sent orders to the political chief of Texas to close all of the missions in San Antonio. All the mission property was sold—except for the churches—at auction.

The church has over 500 parishioners and offers Mass seven days a week at various times.

Mission San Juan Capistrano

In 1731, Mission San Juan Capistrano was built at its present location. Twenty-five years later, the stone church, a friary, and a granary were completed.

Mission San Juan Capistrano was a self-sustaining community. Within the compound, Native American artisans produced iron tools, cloth, and prepared hides. Orchards and gardens outside the walls provided melons, pumpkins, grapes, and peppers. Beyond the mission complex Native American farmers cultivated maize (corn), beans, squash, sweet potatoes, and sugar cane in irrigated fields as well as raising over 7,000 sheep and cattle.

Mission San Juan Capistrano was partially secularized in 1794 and the church became a sub-parish of Mission Espada until it was completely secularized in 1824. The active parish church was established in 1909.

Today the compound includes the church with its three-bell campanario, the compound walls, foundations of some of the original Mission Indian living quarters, the granary building, the convento, a well, and a residence built on the property during the first half of the 1800s.

Tracy

Tracy, the expert behind OurNextRVAdventure.com, brings over 9 years of experience in travel writing and RV living. With a Master’s degree in Travel and Tourism Management, she offers in-depth knowledge on RV maintenance, scenic routes, and campground recommendations. Connect with her adventures on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.

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