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Destination

Castroville is a Medina River town west of San Antonio where Alsatian settlement history, preserved nineteenth-century architecture, a large historic district, Landmark Inn and riverfront parks create one of Texas's most distinctive European-heritage small-town visits.

Guide

Castroville's St. Louis Catholic Church extends the Painted Churches story into the Alsatian colony founded by Henri Castro. The parish began in 1844, the present limestone church dates to 1870, and church-controlled imagery plus Harwood field research document its painted-interior tradition.

Destination

The 19th-century complex served travelers and residents as a tavern, store, hotel and mill along the Medina River. An overnight stay can turn a historic-site visit into part of the experience while introducing Castroville's distinctive Alsatian heritage.

Painted church

An 1870 limestone Gothic Revival church at the heart of Castroville's Alsatian Catholic community, with a church-documented painted interior and independent decorative-painting research in the Buie Harwood archive.