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Mission San José is a Catholic mission church in San Antonio, Texas. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of four missions that make up the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
History
Mission San José was established by Franciscan missionary Father Antonio Margil (1657-1726) with the permission of the the Spanish governor, the Marquis de San Miguel de Aguayo, José de Azlor y Virto de Vera (1677-1734). It was founded on February 23, 1720, because Mission San Antonio de Valero, better known today as the Alamo, became overcrowded with refugees from East Texas missions that had previously closed. The mission’s official name is Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo and it’s the largest of the San Antonio Missions.
The mission was secularized and its lands given to Native Americans in 1794. Mission activities ceased in 1824, but the church continues to function as an active Catholic parish.
Walls
While the first structures at Mission San José were built of brush, straw, and mud, those buildings were quickly replaced with stone structures and surrounded by thick outer walls for defensive purposes. The entrance to the mission nearest the visitor center contains a bastion at the intersection of two of the walls.
Once inside, there’s a wide open space filled with grass and dotted with a few trees. Rooms built on the inside of the walls could house about 350 Native Americans. Just as in the other missions, Natives were taught to live and worship as Spaniards, learned the Spanish language, and several useful trades in order to live independently of the mission.
Church
On the north side of the complex is the church. It was constructed between 1768 and 1782 and earned Mission San José the nickname “Queen of the Missions”. The dome and roof collapsed in the 1870s, and the church underwent a major reconstruction in the 1920s and 1930s.
The façade features several carvings and statues, including a cross representing Jesus Christ; St. Joseph holding the infant Jesus; St. Dominic and St. Francis; Our Lady of Guadalupe (the Virgin Mary); and St. Joachim and St. Anne holding the infant Mary. Directly in front of the entrance are a few graves.
The interior of the church has a vaulted nave and is topped with a dome. Behind the altar is a colorful reredos adorned with statues.
Rose Window
The Rose Window illuminates the sacristy and sits on the south wall of the church. The sculptor and significance of the window is unknown, but it’s a wonderful representation of Baroque art in North America.
The Rose Window was sculpted in 1775. According to local folklore, the sculptor was Pedro Huizar. He dedicated the window to his fiancé, Rosa, who lost her life at sea making the journey from Spain to meet him. Rosa’s spirit is said to have visited Pedro at the window on the day it was finished.
Convent
Behind the church are the remains of the convent. It housed missionaries and lay assistants. In 1785, there were nine rooms downstairs and five rooms upstairs. Benedictine monks started a major reconstruction of the convent in 1861 but it was never completed.
Granary
On the northwest corner of Mission San José, next to a large gate, is the granary. It was first mentioned in 1755 and had the capacity to store enough maize to supply the mission for an entire year.
Kitchen
The kitchen is attached to the granary. It’s decorated with examples of some of the vegetables cultivated at the mission.
Mill
Finally, outside the walls to the north of the mission is the mill, which was also the first mill in Texas. It was built around 1794 in an effort to add wheat to the traditional Native American diet.
The mill produced flour for not only Mission San José, but also other communities in the surrounding areas. Today’s structure was built on the site of the original mill in the 1930s.
