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Plan

Architectural Wonders

A (mostly) walking tour of downtown San Antonio

San Antonio’s rich history and vibrant diversity are not only reflected in its people, but also in the buildings that surround them. Start your own architectural walking tour of downtown San Antonio where the city itself began: Main Plaza. But with so much to see, don’t be surprised if the stroll turns into more of a jog.

San Fernando Cathedral dominates the newly refurbished square – once called Plaza de las Islas in honor of the first settlers from the Canary Islands – as it must have done in 1755, when the first structure was completed. Rebuilt in Gothic Revival form by 1873, recent renovations have returned the cathedral to suitable splendor.

Now take a quick glance to your left toward the imposing Bexar County Courthouse, a red sandstone structure completed in 1896 in a style more Romanesque than Gothic, before we move west toward an even earlier landmark, the Spanish Governor’s Palace, which dates to 1749. Never actually the home of the Spanish governor, the humble, one-story structure nevertheless did house the presidio captain and, thanks to efforts of the San Antonio Conservation Society, today functions as an evocative period museum open to the public.

Representative of today’s era is the shiny, new Museo Alameda at the head of Market Square two blocks west. The firstformal affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, it is the country’s largest Latino museum and presents changing shows on the Mexican-American experience. Refuel at nearby La Margarita Restaurant & Oyster Bar or Mi Tierra Café & Bakery, for the pace is about to get even quicker – especially if you take a detour to the Casa Navarro State Historic Site on nearby South Laredo Street to see the plastered adobe home of Tejano patriot Jose Antonio Navarro.

LaVillitaSigns A VIA trolley is useful about now; take it up Dolorosa/Market streets to the intersection with North Presa. At the southeast corner is the former Carnegie Library, now being converted to The Briscoe Western Art Museum, scheduled to open in the fall of 2010. About two blocks to your right is historic La Villita – definitely worth a visit later, as is the King William Historic District, about five minutes away on foot.

But now we’re turning left along North Presa to the handsome steel gate that leads to Charles Court, an inner-block urban oasis with ponds, fountains and lush landscaping. Resist the urge to linger (well, maybe just a little) as we have blocks more to go. When you’re ready, go out the gate and left to Commerce Street.

Looking east along Commerce, the pinnacle of St. Joseph’s Church, built in 1868 by a community of German Catholics, is barely visible. But continue in its direction (the restored interior is worth a peek), past almost equally historic Schilo’s Delicatessen to the San Antonio River. Descend to the River Walk on its eastern side and head upstream past the Casino Club building on the opposite bank. (It was built in the Mayan Moderne style in 1929 as an exclusive social club).

The adventuresome should feel free to explore the length of the River Walk – especially north along its new walkways to the San Antonio Museum of Art (housed in a strikingly redone historic brewery) and the emerging Pearl Brewery complex – yes, another historic brewery – of culinary teaching facilities, shops and restaurants. Keep going until you’re headed right into the imposing atrium of the Hyatt Regency San Antonio; it’s the best approach to, well, you’ll see …

Continue through the atrium, despite distractions such as Garcia Art Glass. Your destination is the Paseo del Alamo urban water park that leads inexorably past fountains and falls up to Alamo Plaza and the Alamo. If you have timed things properly, you’ll arrive in late afternoon, with the western sun full on the face of the shrine to Texas independence.

After touring the grounds, reward yourself with a look at (and maybe a drink in) the Rough Rider Bar of the venerable Menger Hotel. The present structure dates from 1857, and the original boarding house also was home to, no lie, another brewery.

San Antonians sure were a thirsty lot back in the day.

S.A.V.E.

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