Ysleta Mission

From the El Paso Mission Trail Association website:

"Ysleta del Sur, established in 1680 by Antonio de Otermin and Fray Francisco de Ayaeta and built with the sweat and labor of the Tigua Indians has gone through many transformations. La Mision de Corpus Christi de San Antonio de la Ysleta del Sur as it is known today is built of adobe bricks, clay, straw, and Spanish vigas.  Today it is one of the crowning jewels along the Mission Trail and the community around it. 
The beautiful silver dome and unique Tigua art blend together two cultures that have lasted close to 400 years along the Southwest's Camino Real.

The Mission is the oldest continuously active parish in the state of Texas, and the community of Ysleta is the oldest town in Texas, it is dated back to 1682.  The Tigua Indians were forced to flee their pueblo at Isleta, New Mexico and establish the agricultural community of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo. 
The Rio Grande flooded the mission once in 1744 and again in 1829.  In 1851 the current Mission was originally a rectangular stock of blocks.  The façade was later changed to a pitched, gable shape.  About 1897, the gable was enlarged and a beehive-shaped dome bell tower was added and later painted to the silver color we see today, capping three centuries of natural disasters."

 
The association is offering tours of all the missions on El Paso's Mission Trail.   On your next trip to El Paso, check it out!Thanks to the THC's Randy Mallory for this great photo of the Mission's interior!