One of the most iconic landmarks of Texas, the San Antonio de Valero Mission, known as The Alamo (Spanish for "cottonwood"), is in the heart of Downtown San Antonio, where it dwarfs the huge square. It was built in 1718, secularized in 1793, occupied as a Spanish, then Mexican military garrison in the early 1800s and witnessed the terrible siege that lasted from February 23 to March 6, 1836. The site remains a symbol of the battle cry of the Texas war of independence, "Remember The Alamo!". It now stages fine exhibitions.