San Fernando Cathedral
Begun in 1738, San Fernando is among the oldest cathedrals in the United States and contains a marble sarcophagus said to hold the commingled remains of Alamo defenders, recovered in a 1936 renovation when a box of charred bones, nails, and tattered uniform fragments was unearthed near the old sanctuary railing. Tradition holds that Colonel Juan Seguin gathered the defenders' remains here in 1837, though historians doubt the bones are truly theirs, noting the church has no record of such a burial. Tied to this grim history, visitors repeatedly report skull-like faces, a gaping mouth and sunken eyes, forming in the cathedral's exterior limestone walls. Hooded figures near the walls and doors, dark moving shadows, orbs, and a sarcophagus reported 'ghostly cool to the touch' are also described. Santa Anna raised his red 'no quarter' flag from the cathedral tower before the 1836 battle.
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