Missions San Juan and Espada

Last up on my Mission Trek were Missions San Juan and Espada.  San Juan was VASTLY different from the old photos I had seen depicting a raw, wood roofed, stone chapel.  Now, the mission is sans stone buttresses and cracks in it's character, smoothly finished and brightly whitewashed, set in a flat expanse of grass.    What was once a stately and weathered espadana is now a blank white canvas, robbing the mission of both time and character.  I was a bit disappointed by the blandness of it all and didn't spend much time there.

But this tree was cool.

 

Clean....and MEH.

 

Off I ventured to the delightfully intimate and inviting Mission Espada.  Embraced by lush trees and gardens, this, the very first Mission of Spanish Texas, very much appealed to the hippy in me!  As I approached the reconstructed cloisters, the peace, devotion and invisible presence of priests in residence was tangible.  Not a soul in sight,  but the place was very alive with flowers, potted vegetables, giant chimes hanging from the branches of tress, wrought iron sculptures, benches...like a tiny mellow commune missing only the tie dye and weed.
The chapel's splendid façade is about all that remains of the original structure.  Much of the mission has been rebuilt since 1885.  Originally the mission -fashioned after a typical Spanish village- housed a brickyard, an acequia system, and hundreds of Indians who where offered training in various vocations to build up the area's economy.

The only person I saw there....a woman in earnest prayer....I wonder what her thoughts were.....

A grand espadana with thick wooden door leading into the cool quiet chapel

 

The priest's quarters

 

I saw such beauty in the crumbling ruins of the mission's outer walls.

 

I loved the shading and subtle colors....I'd like to reproduce it with charcoal and acrylic!