MISSION ESPADA 2008

My visit to Mission Espada was a good visit. I have been there many times and always enjoy visiting all the missions. My favorite place would have to be the church at Mission Espada. The Church and the whole Missions is wonderful and beautiful. There is a part if you walk around the path at Mission Espada where one of the branches on the tree comes down real low, I love the way that tree looks.
It was founded as San Francisco de los Tejas in 1690. On March 5, 1731 it was renamed Mission San Francisco de la Espada and was established along this bank of San Antonio River. A friary was built in 1745, and the church was completed in 1756.
The whole church is wonderful, looking at it from afar to my sister and I think it looks like a face. The door is very beautiful, and wonderfully crafted. The doorway space looks very small and like it having breaks in it, was the only mystery I could find. I read about it, it said since it is broken in two places, it may have been a mistake on the builders part. I personally do not believe this was a mistake, it is what makes it stand out.
Water was brought by the Acequia, the main ditch, or Acequia Madre. It still continues to carry to carry water to the Mission. In South Central Texas, sparse rainfall and the need for a reliable water source made the installation of an Acequia system, which is constructed of seven gravity flow ditch systems, a priority. Mission Espada has the best preserved Acequia system. Flood gates controlled water sent to fields and for uses such as bathing, washing, and power mill wheels. Residents living on these neighboring lands and farms still use and recieve water from the Acequia Madre.