By: Aoife O'Riordan | From: Wherever Family
San Antonio marks another milestone in its history with the opening of the new World Heritage Center, allowing family travelers to discover more of the region’s rich culture and history like never before. Home to one of 26 UNESCO World Heritage sites in the United States, San Antonio also features the only World Heritage site in Texas.
The new World Heritage Center serves as a gateway to San Antonio’s historical Spanish missions, including the iconic Alamo. Visitors can expect both indoor and outdoor spaces for orientation and information about what “World Heritage” even means.
Younger visitors can enjoy exhibits and interactive programming, which give kids context, engagement and stories to guide their subsequent visit to the missions themselves.
Experiences in the new center include an interactive media wall sampling the history, arts, regional food and unique culture of the neighborhoods that developed alongside the historic San Antonio missions; local artists’ paintings capturing the mission communities’ traditions and legacies; videos featuring stories of mission community members; and lectures, family programming and monthly events with local senior storytellers about the neighborhoods and local communities.
After venturing through the center, travelers can then head to five Spanish colonial missions established between 1718 and 1731 with an even greater understanding of their histories. Missions include The Alamo, Mission Concepción, Mission San José, The Acequias and River System, and Mission San Juan.