Alamo tour guides say that one of the most frequently asked questions is, “Does the Alamo actually have a basement?” Despite what many learned from the movie “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” there are two basements at the Alamo. There is one used for storage below the gift shop, while another, underneath Alamo Hall, is loaned out as a wedding venue. Pee-Wee won’t find his red bicycle in either of them.

Rock musician Phil Collins has been fascinated by the history of the Alamo since he first watched Disney’s 1955 movie “Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier” as a child. Since then, he has amassed possibly the world’s largest collection of Alamo memorabilia. His collection includes original weapons, documents, Davy Crockett’s bullet pouch, and other artifacts. In 2014, Collins donated the whole collection to the Alamo, and in return, Collins was awarded honorary Texan citizenship.

The 13-day siege by Mexican soldiers in 1836 and the battle cry it inspired — “Remember the Alamo!” — has been portrayed in many movies and TV shows over the years, but perhaps the most famous instance is the 1960 film “The Alamo.” John Wayne directed, produced, and starred in the film as frontiersman Davy Crockett.

After a French businessman named Honoré Grenet purchased the Alamo, it was used as a meat warehouse, and a grocery store operated out of the barracks, which had once been a hospital. Toward the end of the 19th century, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas campaigned to save the buildings, and in 1950, the government bought the Alamo and appointed the women’s organization to manage it; they still oversee it to this day.

After the battle, the ruins of the Alamo lay abandoned for the next few decades. The Republic of Texas transferred ownership of the Alamo to the Roman Catholic Church, and in 1848, the Church leased the property to the U.S. government. During the Civil War, it served as a base for area Confederate soldiers. In 1877, a private citizen purchased the site, and in 1883, the state of Texas bought the Alamo.

General Sam Houston was the leader of the Texan forces, but he didn’t think the Alamo was worth protecting. Jim Bowie didn’t agree with his orders to abandon the fort and decided to stay put, along with 200 other Alamo defenders — including fellow commander William Travis and frontiersman Davy Crockett. Though Zachary Taylor fought in the Mexican-American War before being elected the 12th U.S. President, he was not present at the Battle of the Alamo.

During the War of Mexican Independence, Mexico gained control of the Alamo in 1821. The Mexican Army maintained a garrison at the location during the outbreak of the Texan Revolution in 1835. That garrison was overrun after a two-month siege by Texas revolutionary forces. Determined to retake the San Antonio area, the Mexican army returned with a detachment of 3,000 men, and the 13-day battle started on February 23, 1836, with the Mexican forces coming out victorious.

The Alamo’s original name was Mission San Antonio de Valero, but the Spanish military took over the mission in the late 18th century. Because it stood in a grove of cottonwood trees, they renamed the site the Alamo, which is derived from the Spanish word for these trees. It was also the name of the cavalry unit’s previous station in Alamo de Parras, Mexico.

Long before it was a military fort, the Alamo was the chapel of a Roman Catholic mission. Franciscan missionaries laid the foundation stone for the first permanent building at the site in 1744. After it collapsed in 1756, construction began but never finished on a second chapel that was later handed over to local authorities. By 1805, the site was being used as a fort to treat Spanish soldiers who had been injured on the frontier.

Located in downtown San Antonio, the Alamo draws an estimated 3 million visitors each year. The first components of the compound were built in 1718, but the site became infamous in 1836 for the 13-day siege by Mexican soldiers and the battle cry it inspired, “Remember the Alamo!” — which conjures up images of Texan resolve and American patriotism.