Going to San Antonio!

There’s always romance in San Antonio and just when you think it’s disappeared for a while you find a place like Mission Concepcion.  The mission is stunningly beautiful.  Literally an “Oh wow”  sort of encounter.

The way we found it was probably not the best way to give directions, but it worked.  Just south of the Alamo is the central trolley station.  If you head south from there you’ll see a sign about the mission trail up near the stop light.  We just followed that sign south.  I believe a more reliable set of instructions is to follow Presa Street south.   All of the missions are only open until 5pm.  This one is the most accessible of them, so please be respectful if you visit.

Ready for the beauty?

That’s a real picture, shot by myself.  The place is so gorgeous that a half assed photographer like me just can’t get it wrong.

The church was dedicated in 1755 and according to the National Park Service website, it still looks very much like it did when built.   Just to give you an idea of what was going on in 1755, the French and Indian war was in its second year and Marie Antoinette was busy being born over in Europe.

The building is described as being of Spanish Colonial architecture, and the only links I could find to information on the web were about Spanish Colonial *revival* architecture.   Isn’t that funny?  I’ve been admiring revival houses all these years, and the real deal was  sitting down here south of San Antonio!  I was able to find this book on Amazon  about  Spanish Colonial architecture which I plan to buy for myself shortly.  If you get it first, make sure to leave a comment telling me how you like it!

Here’s a closeup of the doorway.  The sign says something like “Keep the door shut!  The air conditioning is on!”  Isn’t that great!?

Here’s another closeup of the door.  I love the roses set into the diamonds.  According to some belief systems, Mary Magdalene was symbolised by the rose.  I wonder if that’s what the artist intended while doing the carving?  What are the other symbols around the door?  Any ideas?