{"nrhp_refnum":"75001949","name":"Church of Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria y Guadalupe","other_names":["San Fernando Cathedral"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"115 Main Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Antonio","county":"Bexar County","state":"TX","lat":29.424490804000072,"lon":-98.49432660099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-02-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Hispanic","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"San Fernando Cathedral, historically the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria y Guadalupe, at 115 Main Avenue in downtown San Antonio, Texas. The colonial church was begun in 1728 and finished in 1749, and a Gothic Revival cathedral designed by Francis Giraud was built over it between 1868 and 1873.","why_significant":"It was the original parish church of the Villa San Fernando de Bexar, the first civil settlement (1731) in the Spanish Province of Texas. It is one of a few surviving structures from the Spanish colonial period in Texas. It is also tied to events of the Texas Revolution, including James Bowie's 1831 marriage there and the 1837 ceremony for the remains of the Alamo defenders.","narrative":"San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio grew from the parish church of Villa San Fernando de Bexar, the first civil settlement in the Spanish Province of Texas, founded in 1731. The original Spanish Baroque church, built of rough limestone on a cruciform plan, was begun in 1728 and completed in 1749. By 1840 it was nearly in ruins and was renovated. Between 1868 and 1873 a Gothic Revival church of cut limestone, designed by Francis Giraud, was built over it, keeping the old apse and transept as its sanctuary. The church became a cathedral in 1874, and Leo Dielman designed a chancery added in 1922. Its history is linked to the Texas Revolution: James Bowie married there in 1831, a victory flag was raised in its tower in 1835, and in 1837 the remains of the Alamo defenders were brought to the church for a ceremony. It remains one of the few surviving Spanish colonial structures in Texas.","period_of_significance":"18th and 19th centuries","architect_builder":"Francis Giraud (1868-73 church); Leo Dielman (1922 chancery)","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival (over an original Spanish Baroque colonial church)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in good condition, altered, on its original site, and in religious use as a cathedral.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.929937-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/9712/40971217/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/75001949.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001949/41fbd1d816-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001949/41fbd1d816-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Daniel Schwen","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Fernando_Cathedral.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Schwen</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Fernando_Cathedral.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"79002914","name":"Main and Military Plazas Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/main-and-military-plazas-historic-district-79002914/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971217","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_San_Fernando_(San_Antonio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4347159"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/bexar-county/church-of-nuestra-senora-de-la-candelaria-y-guadalupe-75001949/"}