The Missions National Historical Park in San Antonio, USA

*WS 116: The Missions National Historical Park in San Antonio, USA*

The Missions National Historical Park is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site preserving four of the five Spanish frontier missions in the San Antonio River Basin in Texas, USA. These outposts were established by Catholic religious orders, mostly the Franciscans, to spread Christianity among the natives from the 17th to 19th centuries.

We visited 3 of the 4 sites within the park in 2019. They are in different states of "decay" and "restoration". Two of them still have small chapels in use. 1st 2 photos on Mission Concepcion (established 1717), next 2 on Mission St Jose (1720) and last 2 on Mission St Juan Capistrano (1716).

Values of the indigenous people were incorporated  as decorative elements in the imported building designs, hence worthy of the status of a world heritage site. But we really couldn't appreciate that from the ruins.