Visiting Mission San Jose in San Antonio, Texas

This past weekend we decided to be tourists in our own city and visit Mission San Jose.  I’ve lived in San Antonio for several years and never visited any of the missions, except the Alamo.  Mission San Jose was opened in 1782 and it is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  In this blog I will write about our highlights about our day at Mission San Jose.

We arrived on a Saturday morning at 9:30am.  Mission San Jose is open seven days a week from 9am to 5pm.  The address is 6701 San Jose Drive, San Antonio, Tx 78214.  I was pleasantly surprised when I found out there was no admission fee.  Also, parking is free. Our first stop was to picked up a brochure at the visitor’s office.  This mission has free park ranger led guided tours at 10am, 11am, 2pm, and 3pm daily.  The park was not crowded so we decided to walk around at our own pace.

I was amazed at how large the grounds are at Mission San Jose.  It’s the largest of the five San Antonio Missions.  Missions were founded to secure Spain’s claim to the land.  They taught the natives the Spanish way of life and about Christianity.  Spain used mission work to convert the natives into Spanish culture and religion.

We made our way into the museum next to the church.  The museum gave us a peak into the everyday way of life for the natives that lived here.  We saw artifacts and a diorama of what life would have been like during the 1700’s.

After walking through the museum, we made our way outside to the church.  The church regularly hosts mass throughout the day.  They also host Baptisms, Weddings, First Communion, Reconciliation, Confirmation, Funerals and Quinceanera’s.  They have more information online on how to reserve the church for events.

The church has Spanish colonial architectural design.  On the outside façade, it features a cross and Saint Joseph holding infant Jesus.  St. Dominic, St. Francis, Virgin Mary, St. Joachim and St. Anne holding Infant Mary.  We did not go inside the church, because there was a mass service at that time.  Please note that pictures are not allowed inside the church.

On the south side of the church is the famous Rose Window.  This window is one of the oldest examples of Baroque Architecture in the United States.  The window is described as the site where the Host was shown to gather mission celebrants during the Feast of Pentecost. (1)

While we walked around and captured pictures, my younger kids had a lot of areas to explore.  There are benches all over the mission so that we can sit in the shade and rest.  On our way out we noticed bikes for rent.  All day bike rentals are $12.  The five missions are connected by a mission trail.  They have a trail so that anyone can ride a bike or run/walk.  This trail is the only path that follows the San Antonio River.

Overall, my family enjoyed the few hours we spent at Mission San Jose.  I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend a Saturday morning.  If you have an hour or two, please stop by Mission San Jose.  Have you every visited any of the San Antonio Missions? Leave a comment below.

(1)- www.missionsanjosechurch.com