San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park is located about three miles from downtown San Antonio. It consists of four missions: Concepción, San José, San Juan and Espada.

The Missions were built in the 1700s to expand Spanish influence from Mexico to the North. They were built as Indian towns, and the Catholic Church functioned as the town focus. In the area, Catholic missionaries were converting Indians to Catholicism and attempting to make them Spanish citizens.

San Antonio Museum of Art

The San Antonio Museum of Art is home to a comprehensive collection that represents more than 5,000 years of history and an array of cultures from around the world. The museum is one of the top San Antonio attractions. Housed in a complex of buildings that were once the Lone Star Brewery on the Museum Reach of the River Walk, the museum is world-renowned for its impressive collection of Latin American, Asian, and Ancient Mediterranean Art. It also boasts a notable contemporary collection and Oceanic Art.

History of San Antonio

The City of San Antonio is one of the oldest Spanish colonization of the European settlements in Texas and was, for decades, its largest city. Before Spanish colonization, the site was occupied for thousands of years by varying cultures of indigenous peoples. The historic Payaya Indians were likely those who encountered the first Europeans.

Development of the Spanish colonial city followed construction of a fort in 1717. A Catholic mission and trading post were also established, and the town developed as the capital of Tejas, a province of colonial Spain. It was the northernmost settlement associated with the Hispanic culture of the Valley of Mexico.

After Mexico achieved independence in 1821, Anglo-American settlers entered the region from the United States. In 1849,Anglo-Americans gained control of San Antonio in the fighting that gained independence for the Republic of Texas. In 1845 Texas was annexed by the United States of America, and became a state.