Located on the South side of Texas, is one of the first of San Antonio's many missions created by the Spanish in the late 1600's. This mission was founded by San Francisco in 1731 and thus was named the Mission of San Francisco De Espada. The mission was used to teach and reform the Native American tribes that inhabited the area. They were taught a new language, a new religion and vocational skills that were still new to the Native Americans. The word "espada" translates to "sword", which was a reference to conquering of the new land by the Spanish. The Missions locations, relation to the others in San Antonio, is the farthest away from any other mission. This was because of the use of the river that ran nearby. With the aid of "acequias", which is a system of dams and ditches, the water from the river was now able to be transferred to nearby fields for irrigation use. The architecture of the Mission is both Spanish and Moore influenced. The door of Mission Espada is the work of Moorish architectures.
