7 Newly Inscribed World Heritage Sites to Visit in 2024

San Antonio Missions, United States (Texas)

The San Antonio Missions consist of five mission complexes established in the 18th century by Spanish missionaries. Designed as self-sustaining communities, these missions combined religious, agricultural, and domestic functions to support local populations. The sites display a distinctive blend of indigenous building traditions and Catholic architectural forms, preserved in churches, living quarters, irrigation systems, and other structures that tell the story of colonial-era interaction and adaptation.