The Alamo is a historic
Spanish mission and fortress compound founded in the 18th century by
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
missionaries in what is now
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, United States. It was the site of the
Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Anto ...
in 1836, a pivotal event of the
Texas Revolution in which American folk heroes
James Bowie
James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...
and
Davy Crockett died. Today it is a museum in the
Alamo Plaza Historic District
The Alamo Plaza Historic District is an historic district of downtown San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It includes the Alamo, which is a separately listed Registered Hi ...
and a part of the
San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site.
Originally named the Misión San Antonio de Valero, it was one of the early
Spanish missions in Texas
The Spanish Missions in Texas comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic Dominicans, Jesuits, and Franciscans to spread the Catholic doctrine among area Native Americans, but with
the added benefit of giving Spai ...
, built for the education of local
American Indians after their conversion to Christianity. The mission was
secularized
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society f