Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

Friars established Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña (also Mission Concepción) in 1711 as Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hainais in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

. The mission was by the

Domingo Ramón Domingo Jesús Ramón Menargues (born March 10, 1958, in Crevillente, Alicante) is a retired long-distance runner from Spain, known for winning the bronze medal in the men's 3000 m steeplechase event at the 1982 European Championships in Athen ...

- St. Denis expedition and was originally meant to be a base for converting the

Hasinai The Hasinai Confederacy (Caddo: ) was a large confederation of Caddo-speaking Native Americans who occupied territory between the Sabine and Trinity rivers in eastern Texas. Today, their descendants are enrolled in the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma an ...

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and teaching them what they needed to know to become

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

citizens. The friars moved the mission in 1731 to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

. After its relocation most of the people in the mission were Pajalats who spoke a

Coahuiltecan The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas. The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter ga ...

language. Catholic Mass is still held at the mission every Sunday. On October 28, 1835, Mexican troops under Colonel

Domingo de Ugartechea Domingo de Ugartechea ( – 24 May 1839) was a Mexican Army officer for the Republic of Mexico. Biography Early years Born , Ugartechea served for José Joaquín de Arredondo in 1813. Ugartechea as well as Antonio López de Santa Anna were ...

and

Texian Texians were Anglo-American immigrants to Mexican Texas and, later, citizens of the Republic of Texas. Today, the term is used to identify early Anglo settlers of Texas, especially those who supported the Texas Revolution. Mexican settlers of tha ...

insurgents led by

James Bowie James Bowie ( ) (April 10, 1796 – March 6, 1836) was an American military officer, landowner and slave trader who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of him ...

and

James Fannin James Walker Fannin Jr. (January 1, 1804– March 27, 1836) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Texian Army during the Texas Revolution. After being outnumbered and surrendering to the Mexican Army at the Battle o ...

fought the ''

Battle of Concepción The battle of Concepción was fought on October 28, 1835, between Centralist Republic of Mexico, Mexican troops under Colonel Domingo Ugartechea and Texian patriots led by James Bowie and James Fannin. The 30-minute engagement, which histor ...

'' here. Historian J.R. Edmondson describes the 30-minute engagement as "the first major engagement of the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

." Mission Concepción is the oldest unrestored stone church in America. it was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

on April 15, 1970 and is part of

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park San Antonio Missions National Historical Park is a National Historical Park and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site preserving four of the five Spanish frontier missions in San Antonio, Texas, US. These outposts were established by Catholic re ...

. In 2015, the

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, scien ...

designated Concepción and four other San Antonio missions, including The Alamo, as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, the first in Texas and one of twenty-three such establishments in the United States. Mission Concepción consists of a

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

o, and

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

. When originally built, brightly painted

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

s decorated both the exterior and interior of the building. Traces of the frescoes still exist on the weathered facade of the building. Experts restored some of the artwork on the interior ceilings and walls of the convento in 1988. The Archdiocese of San Antonio completed another restoration of the mission's interior in 2010 which exposed more frescoes in the sanctuary and nave.

Gallery

File:Mission_Concepcion._1st_Mission._(8971699362).jpg, The church in 1892. File:Mission Concepción July 2017 01.jpg, The church in 2017. File:Mission Concepcion San Antonio 1.JPG, The area surrounding the mission. File:Mission Concepcion San Antonio Door.JPG, The portal to the church. File:Mission Concepcion San Antonio Interior.JPG, Interior of the church. File:Mission-Concepcion-stairwell.jpg, Stairwell adjacent to the church leading to the former Father President's office File:Mission Concepcion San Antonio Frescoe.JPG, Interior fresco upon the ceiling of the old library in the convento. File:Flickr - …trialsanderrors - Mission Concepción, San Antonio, Texas, axonometric view.jpg, Architectural drawing from HAER File:Mission Concepción July 2017 12 (grotto).jpg, The grotto in 2017.

Solar alignment

The western entrance to the church is aligned to the sunset in such a way that an "annual double solar illumination event" occurs every year on or around August 15, the feast day of the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

.Note: The same solar alignment also occurs on or around April 27.

References

External links

San Antonio Missions National Historical ParkMission Conception parishMission Conception
entry at

Handbook of Texas Online The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

* * {{authority control Concepcion San Antonio Missions National Historical Park San Antonio Missions (World Heritage Site) Buildings and structures in San Antonio Roman Catholic churches completed in the 1730s Military history of San Antonio National Register of Historic Places in San Antonio Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Historic American Buildings Survey in Texas 1716 establishments in Texas 1731 establishments in Texas Spanish Colonial architecture in Texas National Historic Landmarks in Texas 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States

Gallery

Solar alignment

See also

References

External links