San Antonio: America Oldest Church, Confetti Egg Battles at Fiesta and the Maverick Who Named a Word
Browse Southtown galleries and join the First Friday Art Walk where Blue Star Arts Complex anchors the creative district, trace the oldest continuously active church in the United States at San Fernando Cathedral where Santa Anna flew the no-quarter flag, explore Hill Country ranches where 1 million exotic axis deer and nilgai from India now outnumber native wildlife, witness the 100-event Fiesta San Antonio explosion in April including the all-women Battle of Flowers Parade, and walk La Villita 18th-century settlement built on land that gave the English word maverick its name.
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Southtown Arts District
Southtown, the neighborhood immediately south of downtown San Antonio centered on South Alamo Street and South St. Marys Street, is the primary arts district of the city, with galleries, studios, independent restaurants, cafes, and nightlife venues. Blue Star Arts Complex in a former warehouse at the foot of the King William neighborhood has been the anchor since 1986. The First Friday Art Walk in Southtown, held on the first Friday evening of each month, connects galleries and restaurants in an open house format. Presa House Group operates independent exhibition spaces. The neighborhood borders King William Historic District and the Lone Star Brewery complex, the latter now being redeveloped as a mixed-use arts, retail, and residential campus. Southtown has also been the base of San Antonios emerging restaurant scene, with chefs including Ceasar Zepeda and others drawing national food media attention to the city beyond its established Tex-Mex identity.
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San Antonio International Airport and Growth
San Antonio International Airport handles over 10 million passengers annually and offers direct flights to over 50 domestic destinations and select Mexican cities. The city has grown from 700,000 residents in 1980 to over 1.5 million in the city proper and 2.6 million in the metropolitan area, making it one of the fastest-growing large cities in the United States over four decades. Growth has been driven by military presence, healthcare, tourism, back-office corporate operations, and more recently technology sector expansion attracted by relatively low cost of living compared to Austin 80 miles north. Toyota Manufacturing in south San Antonio employs over 3,000 workers producing Tundra pickups and Sequoia SUVs. The City of San Antonio has made significant investments in urban trail infrastructure including the Mission Reach River Walk extension and the San Antonio to Austin rail study. VIA Metropolitan Transit operates the bus system.
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San Fernando Cathedral History
San Fernando Cathedral on the west side of Main Plaza in the heart of downtown, dedicated in 1750 and continuously active as a Roman Catholic cathedral since then, is the oldest standing church building and the oldest continuously operating church in the United States, predating the United States itself. The cathedral was built by Canary Island settlers who arrived in San Antonio in 1731, the only organized civilian group to settle in Spanish Texas. The original 1750 structure forms the apse of the current building, which was expanded in 1868 in Gothic Revival style by architect Francois Giraud. The cenotaph outside the Alamo, half a block away, marks where Santa Anna ordered defenders buried after the 1836 battle. General Santa Anna flew a red flag of no quarter from the cathedral tower to signal that no prisoners would be taken before the battle. The cathedral regularly broadcasts Spanish-language masses on local television.
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Hill Country Ranches and Wildlife
The Texas Hill Country surrounding San Antonio to the north and west, a dissected limestone plateau cut by the Guadalupe, Frio, Pedernales, and other spring-fed rivers, supports one of the largest concentrations of exotic and native wildlife ranching operations in the world. Exotic species including axis deer from India, fallow deer from Europe, nilgai from India, blackbuck antelope, and aoudad sheep from North Africa have been introduced onto Hill Country ranches since the 1930s and now roam freely across the landscape in herds numbering in the millions. The exotic wildlife industry in Texas generates over 1 billion dollars annually in hunting, tourism, and meat sales. Whitetail deer hunting on private Hill Country ranches is a major tourism and economic driver. Kerrville, Boerne, Bandera calling itself the Cowboy Capital of the World, and Comfort are the main Hill Country towns within an hour of San Antonio.
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Fiesta San Antonio History
Fiesta San Antonio, a 10-day celebration held annually in April since 1891 when a parade of flower-decorated carriages honored the heroes of the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto, has grown into one of the largest festivals in the United States, drawing over 3.5 million participants and generating over 500 million dollars in economic activity. The festival encompasses over 100 official events including the Battle of Flowers Parade, one of the oldest parades in America organized entirely by women, the Fiesta Flambeau night parade, Oyster Bake at St. Marys University, the Tejano Music Awards, and dozens of neighborhood events. Cascarones, confetti-filled eggshells broken over the heads of friends, are a Fiesta tradition with Mexican origins adopted enthusiastically in San Antonio. The Fiesta medals traded and collected during the celebration are a uniquely San Antonio folk art, with elaborate limited-edition medals produced by organizations throughout the city.
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La Villita Historic Arts Village
La Villita, a cluster of restored 18th and 19th century adobe and stone structures on the bank of the San Antonio River Walk in downtown, was the original civilian settlement of San Antonio established in the 1720s immediately outside the Alamo walls. The neighborhood was the home of working-class Mexican families through the 19th century and became neglected after the Great Depression before being restored as an arts and crafts village in 1939 under Mayor Maury Maverick, descendant of the rancher whose refusal to brand his cattle gave the word maverick to the English language. La Villita today houses artisan studios, galleries, and restaurants in one of the most historically evocative settings in the city. The Arneson River Theatre, an open-air stage built into the River Walk with audience seating on the opposite bank, hosts performances that boats pass through during shows. La Villita hosts the annual Night in Old San Antonio during Fiesta.