Spanish Governor's Palace

Frommer's Review

Never actually a palace, this 1749 adobe structure formerly served as the residence and headquarters for the captain of the Spanish presidio. It became the seat of Texas government in 1772, when San Antonio was made capital of the Spanish province of Texas and, by the time it was purchased by the city in 1928, it had served as a tailor's shop, barroom, and schoolhouse. The building, with high ceilings crossed by protruding viga beams, is beautiful in its simplicity, and the 10 rooms crowded with period furnishings paint a vivid portrait of upper-class life in a rough-hewn society. It's interesting to see how the other half lived in an earlier era, and I love to sit out on the tree-shaded, cobblestone patio, listening to the burbling of the stone fountain. Be sure to ask a staff member to explain the symbols carved in the grand wooden entryway to the complex.

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