On a Mission, part 2

After an extensive tour of Mission San José, we made off southward to visit the other San Antonio River mission sites, opting to go to the end of the line first then work our way back.

This strategy made Mission Espada our second stop. Moved to its present site in 1731, it is less well-restored than San José, but still interesting and possessed of a kind of eroded loveliness. The small chapel (where services are still held, as they are at all of these mission churches) is shown at the left above and a remnant of the compound's buildings are at the right.

The Park's informational materials tell us that Espada has the most well-preserved acequia system. These irrigation canals brought the river's water to the missions' fields and residences. Unfortunately, it was much too hot even at mid-morning for us to feel like exploring further than just Espada's main compound (see below). Perhaps if we return on a cooler day we'll be able to see and appreciate these engineering marvels.
Next stop upstream is Mission San Juan Capistrano. [not the famous mission with the swallows, in California—apparently Señor Capistrano was a big enough name to have more than one church named for him!] Our San Juan has a couple of special features, in addition to this lovely chapel:
One is a nature trail that leads down to the river, giving perhaps a glimpse of what the waterway looked like throughout its reach 'way back when, before the WPA and the Corps of Engineers had anything to say about it. On the left you can get some idea (fortunately, the trail was very short, since, did I mention it? It was very HOT during our tour!).

There's also this very large grove?—stand?—patch?—of impressively spiky-looking cacti you can see at the right, forming an unusual setting for the cross in the middle of the mission grounds.

San Juan was also moved to its present location from eastern Texas in 1731 [was that a particularly bad year for mosquitoes in the piney woods?] and was known as having the best farmland among all the missions. Irrigated, of course, by the acequias.

The interior of the chapel was light enough to get a good photo, so I snapped this to give you an idea of the charm of these still-active places of worship:
Skipping over San José on our way upstream, we ended up our mission tour with Mission Concepción, whose grounds are not as extensive (probably because of its location so much closer to the heart of the city where real estate has always been more precious) but whose buildings were perhaps our favorites.

One reason for this preference was the still-extant original colorful decorations adorning several of the rooms. You can get some idea of the charm of these spaces in the photo at the left.

The chapel also displays remnants of the mission's more colorful past, as well as showing off the impressive dome that you can see from the inside on the right.

Another 1731 transplant from East Texas, Concepción was a great way to end up our missions tour [although we did feel obligated to drive by the Alamo on our way home, in the interests of completeness]. Here is a shot of this handsome structure:

But we did find out, through Joan's research and helpful Park Service personnel, that there was one more mission at least planned along the San Antonio River acequia system: Mission San Francisco Xavier de Nájera. Doesn't sound familiar? Not too surprising, since if it was ever built, there's nothing left of it now. The tribe for which it was intended, according to the ranger, wasn't as amenable to the Franciscans' "civilizing" influence as were its neighbors. The Handbook of Texas indicates that something was at least staffed with this name, for a few years in the 1720's, but the mission eventually merged with that of San Antonio de Valero [better known as the Alamo]. But now there's only this historical marker, at the edge of a golf course, to show that it ever existed. We're glad there's so much more surviving of the other missions, and look forward to another visit to see more of their grounds—in the winter!