Wanderlust UK – September 2019

(Axel Boer) #1
wanderlust.co.uk September 2019 117

Digital-Mapping.co.uk; Shutterstock; Dreamstime


DURATION: 23 days
ROUTE: San Antonio
WHY GO? To experience
a bygone era of world history,
when the Spanish Crown
was making its ‡irst tentative
moves in the New World.
TRAVEL CONSIDERATIONS:
San Antonio and Austin have
major airports; consider renting
a car at either location and
combining both cities into
a one-week visit.

In the US, a site is in contention
for being classi‡ied as ‘historic’ at
50 years old, according to the
National Parks Service. Although
this is pretty recent by European
standards, it renders San
Antonio’s 300-year-old history
downright ancient.

One of the most historically
signi‡icant sites is the iconic
Alamo (founded in 1718) and
the four other mission churches


  • recently named a collective
    UNESCO World Heritage Site.
    They represent a bygone era
    of Spanish colonialism, and
    a visit to San Antonio Missions
    National Historical Park takes
    you back to a time when the
    Spanish Crown was attempting
    to spread Catholicism to the
    indigenous Coahuiltecan people.
    The best-known mission – San
    Antonio de Valero, now called
    The Alamo – later gained fame as
    a fort that was attacked a century
    later during Texas’ 1836 War for
    Independence from Mexico. Its
    Texan defenders were vastly
    outnumbered and eventually


Spanish colonial San Antonio


Best for: UNESCO heritage, architecture & cycling



overrun, but their de‡iance has
become a symbol of resistance.
The other four missions –
Concepcion, Espada, San José
and San Juan – highlight diŽerent
aspects of 18th-century life in
San Antonio, from harvesting
crops to observing religious
rituals. Consider exploring
them by bike; these are available
for rent at each site.
Just a few miles away are other
vestiges of New Spain’s in‡luence
in the 1700s. The stately gothic-
revival San Fernando Cathedral
was founded by a group of 15
families from the Canary Islands
in 1731, and the adjacent 1749
Spanish Governor’s Palace
features dazzlingly white
stucco stone walls and a lush
tropical courtyard.

DID YOU KNOW?
In 1836, Texas broke away
from Mexico to become the
Republic of Texas. Its „lag
had just one star, so when
it joined the US nine years
later, its nickname as the
‘Lone Star State’ stuck.

Remember the Alamo!
The heroics of 1836 have
made The Alamo a symbol
of Texan individuality;
(top) the San Fernando
Cathedral lit up at night

AR
LA

OK
NM
TEXAS

MEXICO

KS
Free download pdf