San Antonio
The Saga
- Video art installation
- Created by Xavier de Richemont
- Projected on San Fernando Cathedral since June 2015
- Impressionistic, non-linear, and music-driven
- Downtown, a few blocks from di River Walk
Two Texas Buildings, Two Very Different Shows
Texas Legacy in Lights suppose dey for di same conversation as The Saga - and even pass am.
Guide for curious travelers wey wan understand wetin make Gonzales different from San Antonio famous projection mapping show.
Most Texans wey don hear about projection mapping for dis state dey think of one thing: The Saga at San Fernando Cathedral for San Antonio. E free, e dey downtown, and e really worth to see.
But Texas has another projection mapping experience now. It launched in 2025, was made right here by a Texan filmmaker, tells a tori central to Texas history, and does something no other permanent projection mapping installation has done in quite dis format.
Gonzales
Texas Legacy in Lights
- Narrative live-action projection mapping film
- Created in Gonzales by a Texan filmmaker
- Launched in 2025 at di Gonzales Memorial Museum
- Built with actors, locations, tori structure, and architectural climax
- Runs in di town where di first shot of di Texas Revolution happened
Give respect where respect dey due
The Saga suppose dey inside di conversation.
Di San Fernando Cathedral na one of di most storied buildings in North America. Founded in 1731 by Spanish settlers, it stands at di heart of di city dat became di capital of Spanish Texas.
The Saga na 24-minute video art installation wey French artist Xavier de Richemont create. Since June 2015, dem dey project am on top di cathedral facade. E dey tell di tori of San Antonio and South Texas with big animated images and original music.
It na a beautiful piece of public art, and it has been a gift to San Antonio's tourism economy for a decade. But a decade na a long time in visual technology.
Di Building
Di museum was made for a panoramic tori.
Di San Fernando Cathedral na tall and Gothic, with twin towers reaching skyward over Main Plaza. It na an unmistakably dramatic canvas.
Gonzales Memorial Museum different. Dem build am for 1936 with Texas shell stone and Cordova cream limestone. Im 96-foot-wide facade dey low, wide, and deeply balanced, with recessed entryways, bold relief work, and one iconic semi-circular arch for di center.
Where di Cathedral draw your eye go up, di Museum draw am go wide. For di lawn, di full width of di building fill your side vision. You no dey watch screen. You dey stand inside di image.
Di Technology Gap
2015 and 2025 dey different eras.
Dem create The Saga for 2015 with di rendering power and visual language of dat time. Dem create Texas Legacy in Lights for 2025.
In projection mapping, dat ten-year gap matters. Processing power, rendering resolution, edge-blending precision, sound synchronization, and pyrotechnic integration have all moved forward.
When you watch Texas Legacy in Lights, you dey watching what projection mapping can do right now, built with di visual and technical tools available to di medium in 2025.
Di Form
Video art and narrative cinema dey not di same thing.
The Saga na video art installation. Dat one no be criticism. E dey impressionistic, atmospheric, non-linear, and dem build am with symbolic images and music.
Texas Legacy in Lights na narrative live-action film wey dem projection-map on top building. Dem shoot am with real actors, for real locations, with full production crew. E get beginning, middle, end, characters wey you go follow, and climax wey dem build to match di architecture.
Di cannon in di tori becomes di architecture of di building. Di fire in di tori becomes actual flame effects projected onto stone. Di first shot na not just illustrated. It lands.
Di Story
Gonzales tells di tori dat made di rest possible.
On October 2, 1835, settlers in Gonzales refused to hand over a small cannon to Mexican Army forces. They raised a flag with di cannon and four words - Come and Take It - and stood their ground.
Di shot fired dat morning was di first shot of di Texas Revolution. Without Gonzales, there na no Battle of di Alamo. Without di Texas Revolution, there na no Republic of Texas. Without di Republic of Texas, there na no Texas.
Di Gonzales Memorial Museum does not just tell di tori. It stands on di site of di tori, houses di cannon dat started di Revolution, and becomes di surface where dat history returns every night.
