Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo

When visiting San Antonio most people stop to see the Alamo. It's definately worth seeing. It's a piece of history that is held sacred by most all Texans. It's important to see the video in the soldier's garrison before seeing anything. It will help explain the history behind the Alamo. But I'm not going to focus on the Alamo here. BTW, there is NO basement at the Alamo. lol

What I always recommend to visitors is to check out the Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo. It gives the visual people out there, like myself, an understanding of what missions were like back in the 1700s. Located a bit south of the Alamo, it's also in San Antonio. It's one of the most beautiful missions I've ever seen. It has the land around it that we wish the Alamo still had around it. Mission San Jose is a great place to see the beauty of what was--the artwork there touches my heart.

Founded in 1720, the mission was named for Saint Joseph and the Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo, the governor of the Province of Coahuila and Texas at the time. It was built on the banks of the San Antonio river several miles to the south of the earlier mission, San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo).

Its founder was the famed Father Antonio Margil de Jesús, a very prominent Franciscan missionary in early Texas.

It's known as the "Queen of the Missions."

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/uqs23.html

The statues are all around the church:





The next time you are in San Antonio, make sure to check out Mission San Jose. It's free to see and offers a touch of history not often found. You won't regret it.