Mission Wall Thickness

[Danny48]

I'm always struck at how massive the walls of the Alamo are. (3 feet thick?) What is the architectural reason? Why are the church walls so much thicker that the surrounding buildings in the compound? Is that thickness common with other Spanish missions?

[Allen Wiener]

I don't know the answer, but you wouldn't believe how thick the ancient walls are throughout Italy; I toured that country last summer and you see that kind of construction everywhere.

[Kevin Young]

Jan 2, 2010 9:18:08 GMT -5 Danny48 said:

I'm always struck at how massive the walls of the Alamo are. (3 feet thick?) What is the architectural reason? Why are the church walls so much thicker that the surrounding buildings in the compound? Is that thickness common with other Spanish missions?

Vaulted or domed roof supports.

[nybob]

Hi, i was trying to visualize the length and height of the horse corral and cattle pen when i was in San Antonio March 6th. Can someone give give me an estimate based on current landmarks. I wonder if the walls were low enough for any possible texian breakout.
thanks, Bob

[Paul Sylvain]

The pens were fairly low, I think. I don't have the books at my fingertips, so I don't have the figures, but from everything I've seen, it would have been easy to skip over.

[cantador4u]

Apr 23, 2011 16:38:35 GMT -5 Paul Sylvain said:

The pens were fairly low, I think. I don't have the books at my fingertips, so I don't have the figures, but from everything I've seen, it would have been easy to skip over.

From Mark Lemon's book regarding the North courtyard (page 71),
"The Northern wall of this courtyard has been estimated by the archeological evidence as standing to aheight of only about 4.t ft..."

Regarding the Convento Courtyard East Wall (page 73)
"...The east wall of the courtyard, three to 3.5 feet in width,...
...By 1836 only the rear eastern wall stood, at a height of about ten feet...."

- Paul Meske, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin