Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded in 1731 by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order, on the eastern banks of the San Antonio River in present-day San Antonio, Texas. The new settlement was named for a 15th-century theologian and warrior priest who resided in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The mission San Juan was named after Saint John of Capestrano.MissionThe first primitive capilla was built out of brush and mud. Eventually a campanile, or "bell tower" containing two bells was incorporated into the structure, which was replaced by a long granary with a flat roof and an attractive belfry around 1756.In around 1760 construction of a larger church building begun on the east side of the Mission compound, but was never completed due to the lack of sufficient labor. Mission San Juan did not prosper to the same extent as the other San Antonio missions because lands allotted to it were not sufficient to plant vast quantities of crops, or breed large numbers of horses and cattle; a dam was constructed in order to supply water to the Mission's acequia, or irrigation system. .Arrange your visit to Mission San Juan and discover more family-friendly attractions in San Antonio using our San Antonio online holiday planner .
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Mission San Juan Reviews
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The church here has been completely whitewashed, and it was closed when we visited (I think because of roof issues). There’s a little nature trail behind the church, and a small room with interesting ... more »
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Not the most interesting or picturesque of the missions, but still nice. There's a decent amount of parking and a small gift shop. more »
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Nice mission to visit with good history. My family really liked visiting all the missions of S.A.. It's free for the whole family. I highly recommend touring all the missions on your visit to San Antonio. Its awesome!
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All the Missions are unique in their own way and great to visit, but we seem to have visited San Juan the most when living in San Antonio. Nice gift shop and a great place to start for information on the others.
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