The first Mass in the State of Texas was celebrated by the Franciscan monk, Antonio de San Buenaventura. San Antonio is credited with making a huge contribution to the founding of the City of San Antonio and for establishing the five institutions of San Antonio Missions tour and the Alamo.
The largest of the missions, regarded as the "Queen of the Missions, " is San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, now known more informally as Mission San Jose. Work began on its construction in 1720 and the mission was completed in 1782. In 1874, both the dome and the roof collapsed. The year 1928 saw the collapse of the church tower. The church itself is constructed of brightly colored stucco and Texas limestone.
Other architectural features of note include the famous Rose window, carvings, flying buttresses and quatrefoil patterns. The quatrefoil is a form of Christian symbolism resembling a four-leaf clover. The choir loft is fashioned of two dozen risers, each of which was individually hand-crafted from a single timber. This feature contains neither nails nor pegs joining the risers together.
A person could be forgiven for expecting the Rose Window to follow the pattern of other similarly-named features of its kind. The traditional rose window, or Catherine Window, is a generic term applied to a window in the form of a circle. The structure is divided by "spokes" using tracery and mullions, earning it the alternative name, "wheel window."
The rose window at the San Jose church is nothing like its medieval counterparts. From the exterior, it resembles an ornately-framed oval with a superimposed rectangle. In its time, roughly 1770, it was the most ornate and grandiose item in the United States. No one knows how it got its name. Seven feet in height, the window is situated only four and a half feet above ground level.
The other three churches situated inside the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park are Mission Concepcion, dedicated in 1755; Mission San Juan de Capistrano, completed in 1756 and not to be confused with the mission of the same name in southern California (to which the swallows flock each year) and Mission Espada (Mission San Francisco de la Espada). The fifth, and most famous, of the five Spanish frontier missions is the Alamo.
The Mission at the Alamo was the scene of one of the most pivotal battles in the Texas Revolution, or Texas War of Independence. This war between the Texas colonists and the Mexican government began in October 1835 and lasted until April 1836. The end result of the conflict was the formation of the Republic of Texas. Texas was not formally annexed until the end of the Mexican-American War in 1845.
No longer a Roman Catholic church, the mission at The Alamo is now a museum in downtown San Antonio as part of the Alamo Plaza District. A viewing of each of the other Franciscan missions, located in the National Historical park, can be completed in roughly two to four hours per site. In total, the park is home to more than 180 species of bird. Admission to the park is free, as are the guided tours.
The largest of the missions, regarded as the "Queen of the Missions, " is San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, now known more informally as Mission San Jose. Work began on its construction in 1720 and the mission was completed in 1782. In 1874, both the dome and the roof collapsed. The year 1928 saw the collapse of the church tower. The church itself is constructed of brightly colored stucco and Texas limestone.
Other architectural features of note include the famous Rose window, carvings, flying buttresses and quatrefoil patterns. The quatrefoil is a form of Christian symbolism resembling a four-leaf clover. The choir loft is fashioned of two dozen risers, each of which was individually hand-crafted from a single timber. This feature contains neither nails nor pegs joining the risers together.
A person could be forgiven for expecting the Rose Window to follow the pattern of other similarly-named features of its kind. The traditional rose window, or Catherine Window, is a generic term applied to a window in the form of a circle. The structure is divided by "spokes" using tracery and mullions, earning it the alternative name, "wheel window."
The rose window at the San Jose church is nothing like its medieval counterparts. From the exterior, it resembles an ornately-framed oval with a superimposed rectangle. In its time, roughly 1770, it was the most ornate and grandiose item in the United States. No one knows how it got its name. Seven feet in height, the window is situated only four and a half feet above ground level.
The other three churches situated inside the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park are Mission Concepcion, dedicated in 1755; Mission San Juan de Capistrano, completed in 1756 and not to be confused with the mission of the same name in southern California (to which the swallows flock each year) and Mission Espada (Mission San Francisco de la Espada). The fifth, and most famous, of the five Spanish frontier missions is the Alamo.
The Mission at the Alamo was the scene of one of the most pivotal battles in the Texas Revolution, or Texas War of Independence. This war between the Texas colonists and the Mexican government began in October 1835 and lasted until April 1836. The end result of the conflict was the formation of the Republic of Texas. Texas was not formally annexed until the end of the Mexican-American War in 1845.
No longer a Roman Catholic church, the mission at The Alamo is now a museum in downtown San Antonio as part of the Alamo Plaza District. A viewing of each of the other Franciscan missions, located in the National Historical park, can be completed in roughly two to four hours per site. In total, the park is home to more than 180 species of bird. Admission to the park is free, as are the guided tours.
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