Mission San Juan — Attraction in San Antonio

This mission is one of the 5 frontier missions built by Spanish missionaries in the early 18th century and now designated as UNESCO heritage sites. Compared to the Alamo, Mission Conception and Mission San Jose in the north, Mission San Juan is much quieter thanks to its more remote location, and is also smaller and simpler. Mission San Juan is 7 miles south of the Alamo and 3 miles south of Mission San Jose. For those travelling on public transport, bus 40 goes from the Alamo to Mission San Juan via Mission Concepcion and Mission San Jose every 30 minutes, 7 days a week. (I bought a day pass for $2.75 on the VIA goMobile app, which allowed unlimited bus rides in San Antonio.) Mission San Juan is the terminus of bus 40. If you want to go to Mission Espada further south, you have to change bus at Mission San Juan. From Mission Espada, the bus goes back to the Alamo via Mission San Juan, Mission San Jose and Mission Concepcion.

Among the 5 missions, Mission San Juan looks the newest thanks to a major restoration in 2012. The exterior is covered in lime plaster, giving it a white and smooth look unlike the battered and exposed exterior of the other 4 missions. The interior is also restored and is (to my surprise) air-conditioned. The whole mission compound is quite small and can be viewed in less than half an hour.

The nearest mission, Mission Espada, is just 1.5 miles further south along the San Antonio River. If you miss the southbound bus or if you want to exercise, you can walk to Mission Espada in 30 minutes. The path is mostly flat and is suitable for wheels. The path from Mission San Juan to the river (~10 minutes) is shaded by vegetation, while the remaining path is unshaded. Bring an umbrella if the weather is...

More than historic ruins.

We did our own tour of all of the missions in San Antonio, and the Mission San Juan Capistrano is as unique and has its own identity as any of the other missions. They are all within just a few miles of each other, and can all easily be seen in a day. The Alamo is the most famous mission, but these more “local” ones are arguably more charming and personable in a sense. For more info, I’d recommend looking at my profile to review my other brief reviews regarding the missions. At glance, this specific site has a large green space with a plain, yet elegant white church. One could spend 30 minutes strolling around and see the entire grounds, or a couple of hours. Either or, it’s a lovely visit.

The Mission San Juan is family friendly, welcoming regardless of religion, and an overall wonderful place to spend the day. It was founded in 1731 by Spanish Catholics and sits on the eastern banks of the San Antonio River. The first chapel was built out of brush and mud. Later on a campanile ("bell tower") containing two bells was added into the structure,...

There's something to be said for nostalgia. Everything has changed since I was a little girl 30 yrs. ago. The exterior is completely different and certainly doesn't have the look of a mission church from 100s of years ago. They've added a separate choir loft so that's cool. You can't enter the church at just any ol' time because of thieves stealing a few of the statues. (They've since been replaced.) A couple of the buildings were demolished due to asbestos issues. The congregation wonders who we are because we were attending Espada due to financial disputes within the congregation. The elderly neighbors surrounding the church have finally deceased and the younger generations have no interest in becoming involved so I'm hoping to start attending again and perhaps making it the lively community it once was. The millions of dollars in renovations toward the park has garnered attention so that draws a crowd to the church grounds. There is a serious litter problem though. People believe the aqueduct is their own personal garbage can. It's true what they say: "You...