We drive two miles south to the last Mission on on the San Antonio Mission Trail.
Eric at the Mission Espada sign,
southernmost Mission
The entrance to this
walled Mission
Eric & I wonder what this
area of the Mission was
used for.
Construction of Mission Espada
started in 1745 & was completed
in 1756.
It has three exterior bells, like Mission San Juan.
Eric at the Chapel's arched doorway
This arched stonework has been
studied for many years.
This small Mission, furthest from Mission Concepcion, struggled with repeated Apache raids on crops and livestock and worker shortages.
The Holy Water Font adjacent
to the rear pew
Mission Espada has a
timbered ceiling.
Stations of the Cross
line the walls.
A fire burned the ceiling and timbers in 1998.
Statues in the Sanctuary
& the Altar
The back of this small
church does not have
a balcony.
The base of the walls of the larger
church that was started in 1762.
It was disassembled when
instabilities were found.
Native Americans began to leave the Mission, leaving the community with fewer and fewer people to keep the community going. In 1794, this struggling Mission Espada began the process of becoming a church-based community. Comanches raided the Mission's cornfields and killed the livestock in 1826. Later that year, most of the buildings were gutted by fire.
The Chapel survived and welcomes visitors.
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