Market Square, or El Mercado as the locals call it, is a three-block outdoor plaza in downtown San Antonio packed to the brim with Mexican cafes and restaurants, plus myriads of stores and stalls selling handcrafted traditional blankets, clothes, leather and metal goods, all brought from Mexico. Effectively, this is the largest Mexican market in the United States.

The "El Mercado" building was constructed in 1938-1939 after the existing municipal market house (known as the Giles building) had been torn down. The new building was originally named the "Municipal Truck Market", but the locals commonly referred to it as the "Farmer's Market" since the farmers used to sell their produce here, inside the open air building, straight from their trucks. The last ever produce sold on these premises was in 1975, upon which the market house underwent renovation, converted into an enclosed air-conditioned mercado.

Today, the Historic Market Square is a multi-business enterprise in which the majority of buildings are managed by The City of San Antonio. The "El Mercado" section houses 32 specialty shops, while the "Farmer's Market Plaza" section has 80. Businesses like “Cano Fruiteria,” “El Merkadito,” “Plaza Taxco,” “La Margarita,” “Viva Villa,” and “Mi Tierra” are owned independently. "Mi Tierra Cafe Y Panaderia" and "La Margarita Mexican Restaurant & Oyster Bar" are the major eateries, but snacks and specialty foods are also available at other shops.

Throughout the year, the historic market hosts many cultural events and fairs, including Fiesta del Mercado in April and Dia De Los Muertos in November, and is also the venue of Cinco de Mayo and many other fiestas. The on-site Centro de Artes runs a full season of solo and group exhibitions and annual programs, and is managed by the City of San Antonio, Department of Arts and Culture.

If you seek authentic, first-hand, unique San Antonio’s shopping, dining and entertainment experience – look no further than here!

The Cathedral of San Fernando in San Antonio is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the seat of its archbishop. The cathedral is also known as the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria y Guadalupe and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The original church of San Fernando was built between 1738 and 1750. The walls of that church today form the sanctuary of the cathedral, which gives rise to its claim as the oldest cathedral in the State of Texas, much as in the United States. The church was named for Ferdinand III of Castile, who ruled in the 13th century. The baptismal font, believed to be a gift from Charles III, who became King of Spain from 1759, is the oldest piece of liturgical furnishing within the cathedral. The temple itself was built by immigrants from the Canary Islands, for which reason the interior holds a picture of the Virgin of Candelaria, the patroness of the Canary Islands.

In 1868, the cathedral was considerably enlarged in the Gothic style, the addition forming the existing nave. The carved stone Stations of the Cross were added in 1874. The striking stained glass windows were added in 1920. The cathedral remains at the heart of the Catholic religious life of San Antonio, and this includes involvement in annual events, such as the Fiesta Week. In February 2006, the cathedral held a year-long celebration marking San Antonio’s 275th anniversary.

Institute of Texan Cultures is a museum and library located in HemisFair Park in downtown San Antonio. It serves as the state's primary center for multicultural education with exhibits, programs and events like the Texas Folklife Festival, an annual celebration of the many ethnicities that make up the population of Texas. The Folklife Festival has been held yearly since 1972. The facility, established by the Texas Legislature on May 27, 1965, originally served as the Texas Pavilion at HemisFair '68 before being turned over to the University of Texas System. It is now part of the HemisFair Park Campus of the University of Texas in San Antonio.

La Villita Historic Arts Village is the very heart of San Antonio. Originally created to house Alamo soldiers, today La Villita is home to various artisan shops and galleries located right off the River Walk. The district is a pleasure for sightseeing and shopping, as many of La Villita’s 20-something shops selling handmade jewelry, sculpture, art and books occupy the 19th-century Hispanic buildings, carefully maintained and restored. The district's best known landmark is the Little Church of La Villita – a Neo-gothic structure built in 1879. Within the eye shot of the village there is the Arneson River Theater, built in 1939. The venue is best known for its outdoor performances, where the river separates the stage from the audience. Another landmark of La Villita is the Villita Assembly Hall – a multi-purpose venue used for concerts, art shows and other events. Built in 1959, its construction represents a round building with a curious roof that has a big picture of a flower on top.

The Alamo, originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero, is a former Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound, site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, and now a museum, in Downtown San Antonio.

The compound was built by the Spanish Empire in the 18th century for the education of local Native Americans after their conversion to Christianity. In 1793, the mission was secularized and soon abandoned. Ten years later, it became a fortress housing the Mexican Army group led by San Carlos de Parras, who likely gave the name "Alamo." For the next five years after the Battle of the Alamo, it was periodically used to garrison soldiers. The US Army abandoned the mission in 1876. The Alamo chapel was eventually sold to the state of Texas. After forming in 1892, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) began trying to preserve the Alamo. In 1905, Adina Emilia de Zavala and Clara Driscoll successfully convinced the legislature to purchase the buildings and to name the DRT permanent custodians of the site. Texas governor Oscar B. Colquitt briefly took the complex under state control and began restorations in 1912.

As of 2002, the Alamo has welcomed over four million visitors each year, making it one of the most popular historic sites in the United States. Visitors may tour the chapel, as well as the Long Barracks, which contains a small museum with paintings, weapons, and other artifacts from the era of the Texas Revolution. A large mural, known as the Wall of History, portrays the history of the Alamo complex from its mission days to the modern times.

The Majestic Theatre is San Antonio's oldest and largest atmospheric theatre. Designed by architect John Eberson, for Karl Hoblitzelle's Interstate Theatres in 1929, it seats 2,264 people. In 1975, the theatre was listed on the National Register of Historical Places and was designated a Texas Historic Landmark in 1991, followed by a National Historic Landmark on April 19, 1993.

Its opening on June 14, 1929, in many ways symbolized a progressiveness with which San Antonio wished to identify. It was the first theatre in Texas to be fully air-conditioned, which alone was a major attraction in the 1920s South, and, for many years, it remained the state's largest theatre and the second largest in the United States, after Atlanta, Georgia's Fox Theatre. Between 1989 and 2014, the Majestic was home to the San Antonio Symphony.

Among other features, the building boasted a huge cast-iron canopy covering the sidewalk, a vertical sign 76-feet tall topped with "a strutting peacock ... walking as a huge ball rotated under his feet," and a cave-like single-story lobby that included copper lanterns, ceiling murals, and an aquarium filled with tropical fish. Inside the theatre's auditorium were stuffed birds perched on balconies or frozen mid-flight via ceiling wire, replicas of well-known Greek, Roman, and Renaissance sculptures, and specially treated cypress trees brought from Spain and placed on upper-level niches.

In January 2017, the Majestic replaced the white peacock, which had tarnished gray and become "decrepit" over the years, with a new one purchased for $3,600 from Joel Donahue, a California taxidermist. There are 27 other stuffed birds in the theatre, including a second, less ostentatious peacock on the opposite side of the new addition. At the Majestic grand opening in 1929, the facility was billed as having "one of the largest collections of stuffed birds in Texas," including a large white peacock. Later in 2017, the theatre hosted the San Antonio portions of Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief.

Japanese Tea Gardens, otherwise known as Sunken Gardens, were opened in an abandoned limestone quarry in the early 1920s. These gardens feature wonderful floral displays, a waterfall and a habitat for new Koi and various aquatic plants, complete with idyllic walkways, stone arch bridges and a Japanese pagoda. The garden is an interesting re-use of an old quarry which dates back to 1899 and its remnants can still be spotted in the gardens' design. The entrance that replicates a Japanese Torii gate in a wood-imitating concrete construction was created by Dionicio Rodriguez. The Japanese Garden is a designated national landmark and a great example of Texas Civil Engineering.