San Fernando Cathedral

Leaving San Marcos, we made the short drive south to San Antonio, one of Texas' biggest and most impressive cities. We didn't plan to stay overnight in San Antonio on this trip, but we decided to try to cram as much into a half-day as we could before heading on to to Guadalupe River State Park, where we would camp for the night. As the city's big Gothic cathedral is the central point in the city, and as all of the historical landmarks in the old town were located nearby, it seemed the perfect place to start our afternoon in San Antonio.

San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Texas, the oldest cathedral in the state, serves as the geographic center of the city San Antonio, and played an important role in the Battle of the Alamo. Today, it is the final resting place of the enshrined remains of some of the heroes of the Texas Revolution.

Built in 1731 by immigrants from the Canary Islands and situated literally in the center of San Antonio, the Cathedral of San Fernando marks not only the geographical center of the city, but also the center of the civic and religious life of generations of San Antonio Catholics. The cathedral's ornate baptismal font was a gift from King Charles III, who also helped finance the construction of the cathedral to cater to the spiritual needs of the Spanish immigrants who settled southern Texas and northern Mexico.

The cathedral marks not only the historic, but also the modern geographic center of San Antonio, Texas. Plaques embedded into the floor mark both positions (the city's expansion led to a slightly different "modern" geographic center).

The Cathedral is an impressive building with a large central altar. One of the oldest cathedrals in the United States, San Fernando Cathedral was established in 1738, long before this region of Texas was annexed into the United States of America.

The central altar is beautiful - a multi-story golden shrine filling the entire wall of the altar. It was installed in a major 2011 renovation of the cathedral. When we visited, there were many parishioners sitting quietly in the pews or praying in front of the altar or smaller shrines inside the big, quiet church.

During the Texas Revolution, General Santa Ana raised a "No Quarter" flag from the towers of the cathedral, announcing the beginning of the Siege of the Alamo. At the time, the cathedral became sort of an anti-Alamo - a symbol of Mexican authority over Texas.

Just inside the big, heavy doors of the cathedral, a huge stone coffin stood beneath a set of stained glass windowpanes. Here lies the entombed remains of some of the heroes of the Battle of the Alamo,  namely Davy Crockett, William B. Travis, and Jim Bowie. After the battle of the Alamo, General Santa Ana had the bodies burned in giant pyres outside the cathedral, and ordered the ashes to be buries on the parish grounds.

The cathedral's store features a small museum with relics and artifacts of the region's Catholic history, including a portable Communion set used by itinerant priests during the early Spanish colonial era.