San Fernando Cathedral
In 1731 sixteen families from the Canary Islands arrived to settle San Antonio, then a small outpost of New Spain, and they began a parish church dedicated to Saint Ferdinand. Its walls, built between 1738 and 1750, still stand as the sanctuary of the present cathedral. They make it the oldest cathedral sanctuary in the United States. In 1868–1873 a large Gothic nave and twin towers were added in front of the old church.
During the siege of the Alamo in 1836, the Mexican general Santa Anna raised a flag of “no quarter” from its tower. A marble casket inside the entrance is said to hold remains of the Alamo’s defenders, found near the altar in 1936.
The cathedral stands on Main Plaza, the heart of the old city, and is the spiritual home of San Antonio’s large Mexican-American community. Its Holy Week processions, its Guadalupe feast and its Christmas celebrations are among the best loved in the country. On many evenings a light show projected onto the façade tells the story of the city.
- Built
- 1738–1750; Gothic nave 1868–1873
- Style
- Spanish colonial and Gothic Revival
- Where
- San Antonio, Texas, United States
- Map
- Find it on OpenStreetMap