“Remember the Alamo” just became a global mandate. The 18th-century Spanish church turned fort was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status on Sunday, along with four other Spanish Colonial missions in the San Antonio River basin. The new World Heritage Site, which encompasses all five complexes, is the first in Texas and the 23rd in the U.S.

Along with the fortified Alamo, the setting of the famous 1836 battle in Texas’s war for independence from Mexico, the other four landmarked churches showcase the architectural style used by Franciscan missionaries in the 18th century, when churches were built to spread Catholicism through what was then New Spain. Decorative features demonstrate the way that the Spanish blended traditional Catholic symbols with motifs from the indigenous Coahuiltecan people.