Spanish Colonial
Missions, presidios, and plazas from the Spanish empire's long reach across Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and California.
Seven landmarks across 5 states. Start with Castillo de San Marcos, San Antonio Missions and Mission San Juan Capistrano.
- Landmarks
- 7
- Period
- 1565–1763
Pictured Castillo de San Marcos
National Park Service · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
The Landmarks
- Spanish Colonial
Castillo de San Marcos
St. Augustine, FL
Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States, a Spanish stronghold that has guarded St. Augustine, Florida, since the 17th century.
Spanish ColonialSan Antonio Missions
San Antonio, TX
The San Antonio Missions are the largest concentration of Spanish colonial missions in North America — four 18th-century mission communities strung along the San Antonio River.
Spanish ColonialMission San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano, CA
Called the 'Jewel of the Missions,' Mission San Juan Capistrano is the most complete surviving example of California's Spanish mission chain, founded the same year as American independence.
Spanish ColonialPalace of the Governors
Santa Fe, NM
No public building in the United States has been in continuous use longer than the Palace of the Governors.
Spanish ColonialMission San Xavier del Bac
Tucson, AZ
Rising white against the Sonoran Desert south of Tucson, Mission San Xavier del Bac is widely considered the finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States.
Spanish ColonialPresidio of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
A military post continuously held by three different nations for over two centuries, the Presidio is now one of America's boldest experiments in park management — a national park required by law to pay for itself.
Spanish ColonialMission San Antonio de Padua
Jolon, CA
One of California's most isolated missions, preserved from development only because it now sits inside a U.S. Army base, Mission San Antonio de Padua also built one of the earliest water-powered mills and irrigation systems in the state.