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Spanish Governor's Palace
The Spanish Governor's Palace in
San Antonio, Texas was built in the mid18th century, and was
constructed to protect the San Antonio de Valero Mission close by,
which is also known as the Alamo; as well as the growing community.
It believed to be the last remaining example of aristocratic early
Spanish architecture in the state, and is listed on the National
Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. The
National Geographic Society calls it "the most beautiful building in
San Antonio". Believed to have been built as early as 1722, their is
a keystone above the doors at the front entry that is marked with
the coat-of-arms of the Spanish King Ferdinand VI and the date
"1749". It was the residence and work offices of the local presidio
captain and would later become the capitol building of the Tejas
region of Spanish Texas in 1722; presently taken care of by the city
and open to the public as a museum. Why it is or was called the
Spanish governor's palace no one seems to know, but they do know
that it isn't or wasn't. It is a one-story masonry and stucco
structure built in the Spanish colonial style of architecture with
10 rooms, a grand courtyard and fountain that is said to be haunted.
It is located between Market Square and the San Antonio River Walk,
by the city hall. The Presidio de San Antonio de Bejar was
constructed because of the rivalry between France and Spain in the
beginning of the 18th century for dominance of the territory that
would become part of the southwest United States, and was ordered to
be built by King Philip V of Spain. Don Martin de Alarcon and 50
soldiers came here to build the mission and presidio as a result of
that order, between the San Pedro and San Antonio Rivers. When they
got there, they would find an Indian village at the head of the San
Antonio River and San Pedro Springs, but he built the Mission San
Antonio de Valero anyway that year. In 1722, the Marquis de San
Miguel de Aguayo, Governor of Tejas and Coahuila, then moved the
presidio there and the marquis thought that a big square with
pointed bastions at each corner would eventually be constructed
also. In a letter from the marquis to the monarch, dated June 13,
1722, he would need 40 more laborers and 25,000 adobe bricks to
finish the compound. The keystone above the door is marked with the
king's coat-of-arms and the inscription "ano 1749 se acabo" gave the
impression that the presidio was finished, but much smaller than the
marquis imagined. The building, usually known as the Spanish
Governor's Palace, was the commandancia or residence and working
office for the captain of the presidio. When the French threat
abated, King Carlos III appointed Marquis de Rubi inspector of the
frontier presidios and this inspection resulted in the Royal
Regulations of 1772, ordering the capital of the Spanish Texas move
fro the Presidio at Los Adaes, east of Nacogdoches, Texas to the
presidio at San Antonio, and that the captain become the governor of
Texas. When Spain lost control of Mexico and Texas in 1821, the
presidio was no longer a military outpost, but the owner and former
captain, Ignacio Perez and his descendants would stay and use the
building as their residence until the mid 1800s. The function of it
then changed to commercial uses in the mid 1870s and until the 1920s
was used for many different businesses that included a wholesale
produce store, saloons, pawn shop and clothing store. In 1928, the
city bought it and finished the renovations in 1929 and 1930.
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