Just a two hour drive west of San Antonio, Texas is the Alamo Village, a western family recreation centre built around the movie set for The Alamo starring John Wayne that was filmed in 1959. (CP PHOTO/ HO/Texas Tourism)

Visitors to Texas usually remember the Alamo. They can't avoid it.

There's the actual Alamo in San Antonio, site of the legendary 1836 battle; a fake Alamo, west of there, where John Wayne made his last stand in a 1960 movie; and another replica, near Austin, where this year's Hollywood take on the famous tale was filmed. There's even an Alamo erected inside a nightclub in Houston.

And it doesn't stop there. The state's phone directory lists 2,073 businesses with the name Alamo, 1,039 of them -- from A-Alamo Bail Bonds to Zoopa Alamo Quarry -- in San Antonio.

All of which illustrates the nearly religious zeal with which Texans regard the Alamo.

"It's the No. 1 attraction in the state of Texas," says Janice Langlinais, tourism marketing co-ordinator for the governor's office.

Nearly three million people a year make the pilgrimage to the ruins of the historic Spanish mission and fort that stands in all its battle-scarred glory in the heart of San Antonio.

"It's like a church," says Langlinais. "People go really quiet. Men remove their hats."

The site was established in the early 1700s as the Mission San Antonio de Valero, home to Roman Catholic priests and native American converts. A century later, the Spanish military moved in.

The soldiers were members of the Alamo de Parras cavalry company -- alamo is the Spanish word for "cottonwood trees" -- who apparently attached their handle to their new home.

The set of The Alamo (2004) is now the largest free standing movie set in the world, constructed just south west of Austin, Texas. (CP PHOTO/ HO/Texas Film Commission)

The fort changed nationality when Mexico won its independence from Spain in the 1820s. By 1836, when Texas was fighting for its independence from Mexico, the rebels took up residence.

This was a rag-tag collection of 189 local Texans and Americans from across the United States: commander William Travis from South Carolina, Jim Bowie from Kentucky, Davy Crockett from Tennessee. Other adventurous volunteers came from as far away as Ireland, Britain and Germany.

For 13 days, they held off 4,000 Mexican troops. On March 6, 1836, the forces under Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna overran the Alamo, killing everyone inside and burning the bodies.

The charred bones and ashes are believed to be in a marble coffin in the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio. Such lore is enough to lure thousands to the landmark church.

The millions who go to the Alamo can tour the chapel and the Long Barracks, all that remain of the original mission and fort, and learn the story of the battle. Relics of the time -- cannon balls, muskets, a Bowie knife -- are on display.

The present building is the old chapel of Mission San Antonio de Valero, in San Antonio, Texas founded in 1718 by the Franciscan padres. (CP PHOTO/ HO/ San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau)

Since the city grew up around the Alamo, surrounding it with office towers and hotels -- and because it is considered a shrine, maintained by a group called the Daughters of the Republic of Texas -- Hollywood has had to go elsewhere to retell the drama.

In the late 1950s, an Alamo was built near Brackettville, Texas, about two hours west of San Antonio, for the big-screen epic starring John Wayne. There, visitors to Alamo Village can explore a western movie town, featuring saloons and a herd of Texas longhorn cattle.

Greater attention to detail was purportedly paid to constructing the setting for this year's multimillion-dollar production of The Alamo. But it's not yet clear whether the public will be welcome to view the set, in Dripping Springs, outside the state capital of Austin.

"The owner of the land is currently looking into options for making the set available for visitors," says Scott Owings, director of tourism marketing for the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau.

One Alamo always open is in the place where the battle cry "Remember the Alamo!" spurred Texans to victory in late April 1836. The City Streets nightclub in Houston, where Sam Houston's army defeated Santa Anna, has a free-standing facade of the Alamo -- 12 metres long and six metres high -- in its country and western bar, called the Rose.

"You can dance right there, in front of the Alamo," says general manager Brian Seay.

For more information: Texas Tourism, phone 1-800-888-8839, website, www.traveltex.com; San Antonio tourism, 1-800-447-3372, www.sanantoniovisit.com; Alamo Village in Brackettville, 830-563-2580, www.alamovillage.com; Austin tourism, 1-866-462-8784, www.austintexas.org; Houston tourism, 1-800-446-8786, www.visithoustontexas.com.