Images of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in central Texas, taken in August 2016.

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park protects five Catholic missions along the San Antonio River established by Spanish explorers in the 1700s. These missions thrived between 1774 and 1775 and after their importance waned became the foundation for the City of San Antonio.

Of the five missions the most famous, the Alamo, was the location of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 where approximately 200 Texas Revolutionaries fought for eight days to hold off General Antonio Lopez Santa Anna and the Mexican Army before succumbing to their overwhelming numbers. Today it stands as a shrine to that battle.