Misión San Francisco de la Espada

The Misión San Francisco de la Espada is one of the many churches that Spanish friars founded along the modern-day Southwestern United States. This area was a frontier-zone, bordering indigneous communities and British and French territories. It was established in the mid-eighteenth century near San Antonio, Texas to evangelize the native peoples. The stone complex originally featured a dam, granary, convent, chapel, and exterior walls. All of these structures were built with indigenous labor.