San Antonio Missions

Franciscan friars strung five mission complexes along the San Antonio River in the 18th century, the Spanish Crown's bid to settle, convert and defend the northern edge of New Spain. Churches, granaries, farm fields and irrigation acequias survive together with a ranch to the south, and the churches' ornament blends Catholic imagery with nature-inspired designs of the indigenous Coahuiltecan people. UNESCO inscribed the missions — including the Alamo — in 2015.