Visiting the San Antonio Missions

Here in Texas they have a historical site called San Antonio Missions National Park which are Spanish frontier missions. We were able to visit 2 of these sights this past weekend.  There are 5 in total with the Alamo being one and the most famous.  These outposts were established by Catholic Religious orders to spread Christianity among the local natives. These missions formed part of a colonization system that stretched across the Spanish Southwest in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

Mission San Juan

This is the beautiful chapel that is on the premises and below is what it looked like inside.  

People can still get married in the chapel and they continue to have services throughout the year.

A look at some of the remnants of the outer walls.

After we walked around and toured Mission San Juan we headed to Mission San Jose.  This structure was absolutely beautiful.  We were fortunate to catch a film on the making and history of the missions.  If I were to be honest, it was actually more sad and depressing than what I was expecting.  I didn't realize that the missions were set up so that they could help the Indians conform to Christianity. They thought of Indian tribal dances and traditions as "devils work". 

They had a visitor center where we were able to watch the movie and check out a small museum of artifacts.

LOVE

Such a cutie.  He likes the red light that flashes before the camera takes the pic.  He's always surprised haha.

So pretty.  It really was magnificent.

We were able to look inside the little apartments that were living quarters for those that were there.  It was extremely tiny.  Each one had 2 rooms. One for kitchen area and another for sleeping.

I tried to get the building in the back as well but it's harder when you have to take it yourself :)

Love this shot.  I couldn't get over the arches.  It was so beautiful.  

Another shot of the architecture.  I felt like I was back in high school on an art tour, it was so fun.

Another shot of an arch and the well.

Preston pushing Jackson around.

Inside the chapel.  The colors were so vibrant and beautiful.  Loved the blue.

The ceiling.  

The famous "rose" window.  They aren't sure what purpose it served back then, but it sure was pretty.

 

You can see the original painting on the bottom of the bell tower.  Very cool.  

After we spent time at the missions we headed to a park for a picnic lunch.

This was at the park.  Thought this old bridge was really cool.

Pres showing Jackson the birds in the trees.

   

     Yea, all the white in the tree is actually birds!! There were hundreds, it was unbelievable!

Absolutely adore this little boy.

It was a great day full of fun and learning.  We had such a great time.