World Heritage Site Managment
San Antonio Missions is a unique chain of five closely spaced eighteenth century Spanish colonial mission complexes in San Antonio, Texas. Historically, they operated cooperatively and shared the same goals: to evangelize the area’s Indigenous population and to develop secular, self-supporting communities of faithful Catholics and the Spanish Crown who could help defend the northern frontier of Spain’s empire in North America. Located along a 12-mile (19.3 km) length of the San Antonio River, the missions, with their supporting irrigation systems, workshops, farms, and ranches, grew into self-sustaining communities that became the foundation of the modern city of San Antonio. Today, they are all designated historic sites, and four of the former mission churches continue to serve as
active Catholic parishes. The designated property consists of the five mission compounds, farm fields, irrigation systems, and a ranch site.
