by Once upon a time about 300 years ago the Spanish king ordered 56 people to get on a boat in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa and head across the Atlantic to Veracruz. Disembarking, they next walked 850+ miles north to San Antonio, arriving there in 1718.
Welcomed by the Franciscans who were absolutely everywhere in this part of the Spanish Empire, these 56 people became the official founders of the city. Okay, so the Franciscans were there already–they don’t count as “founders” in the eyes of the king, even though one is depicted in the sculpture, below. The King wanted permanent settlers–farmers, blacksmiths, housewives, etc.–on the land he was claiming for his empire, not religious men who might be called away by the pope!
There is a group of statues representing them in front of the Bexar County courthouse. And a bronze plaque on a nearby retaining wall that declares the plaza in front of the courthouse to be “Plaza de las Islas Canarias”.
Across the plaza from that plaque stands the San Fernando Cathedral with a sign declaring the area in front of it to be the “Plaza de la Cruz”. One public square, two names. And it doesn’t stop there. Next to the Cathedral is a boring office high-rise that is named “Municipal Plaza Building”. (“Municipal Plaza” sounds like a very 1950s name to me.) I think city officials threw up their hands and eventually decided on the most generic name for the square and erected a big official city sign indicates that the plaza is the “Main Plaza”. That works for me!
In this area where there are historical markers all over the place, yet another one caught my eye.
So I went inside the Cathedral to see where the last earthly remains of Davy Crockett, James Bowie and Colonel William Travis are now kept, less than a mile away from the Alamo.
San Antonio hasn’t forgotten its past, but downtown there are new buildings everywhere! I hope they plan to keep more of the old instead of turning downtown San Antonio into another generic modern city.
Again, great, Carole, and not in the tourist literature, as far as I know. The cathedral stages a light show at night; I liked it even though some might call if smaltzy.
(I think they did the same at Notre Dame in Paris).
Enjoying ride, Nancy
There are historical markers all over that plaza. It was only after I began to read them that I learned about the 56 Canary Islanders and the fact that the plaza has 4 names! I was at the Alamo today and that timeline has the Canary Islanders showing up in 1730–not that earlier date.