Mission San Juan Capistrano (Texas) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mission San Juan Capistrano
La Misión de San Juan Capistrano
The church of Mission San Juan Capistrano and its integral campanario
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Location
Location	San Antonio, Texas  USA
Location in Texas
Architecture
Architectural style	Spanish Colonial
Completed	Founded 1731
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Criteria	Cultural: (ii)
Designated	2015 (39th session)
Parent listing	San Antonio Missions
Reference no.	1466-002
State Party	United States
Region	Europe and North America
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
February 23, 1972
72001352

Mission San Juan Capistrano is a historic place in San Antonio, Texas. It was started in 1731 by Spanish Catholic missionaries from the Franciscan Order. The mission is located on the eastern banks of the San Antonio River.

This mission was part of a group of Spanish settlements. It was named after Saint John of Capestrano, a religious leader and warrior from Italy who lived in the 1400s.

Building the Mission

The very first church building, called a capilla, was simple. It was made from brush and mud. Later, a bell tower, or campanile, was added. This tower had two bells.

Around 1756, a new, longer building was built. It had a flat roof and a nice belfry for bells. In 1760, work started on an even bigger church. However, it was never finished because there weren't enough workers.

A view of the mission grounds in 2017, showing the peaceful surroundings.

Life at the Mission

Mission San Juan didn't grow as much as other missions in San Antonio. The land given to it wasn't big enough for huge farms or many animals. Even so, the mission built a dam to bring water to its acequia, which was an irrigation system for crops.

In 1762, the mission owned about 1,000 cattle, 3,500 sheep and goats, and 100 horses. This shows they still had a good number of animals.

In 1756, about 265 native people, called neophytes, lived in adobe huts at the mission. By 1790, these native Coahuiltecan people were living in stone homes. However, their numbers had dropped to 58. It was sometimes hard to get the native people, who were used to moving around, to stay at the mission. Many would leave and then come back.

Changes Over Time

The mission became a regular church on July 14, 1794. This process is called secularization, meaning it was no longer run by missionaries. After this, a priest from a nearby mission, Mission San Francisco de la Espada, took care of it.

Later, a priest from Mission San José looked after it until 1824. The native people who lived at the mission either moved away, went to other missions, or became more like the Spanish settlers.

For a while, Mission San Juan was not used much. But in 1840, church services started again. A neighborhood grew around the mission, partly because a railroad was built nearby in 1855. Different religious groups used the church over the years. In 1967, the Franciscans, the original order, returned to Mission San Juan.

Restoration and Park Status

In 1934, during a public works project, old native living areas and the foundations of the unfinished church were found. The church, the priests' living quarters, and other buildings were rebuilt in the 1960s. Most of the original mission courtyard walls are still there. This helps people see how the mission looked long ago.

The front of the church before the big renovations in 2012.

Since the 1980s, the National Park Service has taken care of the grounds of Mission San Juan Capistrano. It is now part of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The local Catholic church group, the Archdiocese of San Antonio, still takes care of the church building itself.

2012 Renovation

In 2012, the mission church had a big renovation that cost $2.2 million. The ground under the church was made of clay and was shifting, causing cracks in the walls and plaster to fall. Workers added a strong new foundation that goes deep into the ground.

This new foundation allowed them to remove large supports that had been placed against the walls in the mid-1900s. Now, the outside of the church is covered in a light, eggshell-white plaster. This is a change from its old, darker look.

The church after the 2012 renovations, showing its brighter, restored look.

Gallery

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  Full view of the church in 1892.

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  Full view of the church before the 2012 renovations.

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  Full view of the church after the 2012 renovations.

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  View of the grounds around the church in 2017.

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  Tierra Sagrada "Sacred Earth" at the site of an unfinished church from 1780, where indigenous people who built the mission were buried.

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  Interior of the church before the 2012 renovations.

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  Mission San Juan de Capistrano by Hermann Lungkwitz

See also

• List of the oldest buildings in Texas
• Spanish missions in Texas
• Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña - also called Mission Concepcion
• Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo - also called Mission San José
• Mission San Francisco de la Espada - also called Mission Espada
• Espada Acequia