MISSIONS SAN JOSE AND SAN JUAN

  

Tuesday we toured the four missions south of San Antonio.  We had already done the 5th one, the Alamo, on an earlier trip downtown.  I love the missions!  It always amazes me that they were so well built that parts of them are still standing, almost 300 years later.  In fact, a couple of the churches have active congregations where Sunday and Holiday services are still held, and are attended by descendants of those who built them back in 1730.  And I always feel such a sense of peace and I know I could spend the whole day, just walking around or sitting and absorbing the history.

As I said, we visited four missions that day, and I took hundreds of pictures.  I will share a few with you, probably in at least two different groups.

  

Door ways around the outside walls that lead into the smal homes of the Natives.

  

Archways and covered walkways.

  

 These places are a wonder to me.  How did they do arches with no modern construction equipment?

  

 The side door into the church.

  

 The interior of the San Jose mission church was quite plain.

  

San Jose was the largest of the missions.

  

Then we went to San Juan, a much smaller place.

  

I'm used to seeing Easter lilies or poinsettias around the base of the cross, not cactus! 

  

 A rolly polly statue outside the entrance door.

  

 The interior of this chapel was more decorated, but was smaller that the first one.