A Historical View of the San Antonio Missions
History:
Concepción's church extends in length 89 feet and 22-1/4 feet in width. The walls are 45 inches (almost four feet) thick, having facings inside and out of solid stone with adobe and small stones in the center. The stone used in the building was quarried a few yards away from its front entrance, probably inside the walled compound itself.

Over the entrance door is a niche that housed a statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (no longer there today), while the doorway arch features an inscription also dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The entire façade was decorated with a colored geometric design similar to that painted on the exterior walls of Mission San José.

About this Image:
1) Note the round window, called an oculus, on the church's front façade. This window is designed to illuminate the altar tabernacle with sunlight on the Feast of the Assumption (of the Blessed Virgin Mary) on August 15th.

2) Detail of the stone carving around the main door to the church at Mission Concepción. Photo taken by Arthur. W. Stewart, HABS, Library of Congress.

To Learn More:
Credit:
Courtesy of the San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation.
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N.d.N.d.
2) c. 19362) c. 1936