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Up to the Iguazu Falls, in the Argentine region sandwiched between Paraguay and Brazil, San Ignacio Miní was among the numerous Jesuit missions established in South America during the 17th century. They found roughly 30 missionaries in the zone that is now the boundary between Argentina, Paraguay, & Brazil at the time. San Ignacio Miní is located on Ruta 12 and can be reached by bus from Posadas a Obera. The ruins are among the best-preserved of the several built-in Provinces of Paraguay, which Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay now split. Ancient Spaniards were dubbed as the Province of Paraguay during the Spanish colonial period.
History of San Ignacio Miní
The original mission was erected around 1610 by Jesuit priests José Cataldino & Simón Maceta in what is now Paraná State, Brazil, in a location known to the locals as Guayrá and to the Spanish conquistadores as La Pinera. The mission was forced to relocate in 1632 due to repeated Bandeirantes raids, and it did not settle inside its current position until 1696. San Ignacio Miní was named to distinguish this from Paraguay’s bigger San Ignacio Guaz (great) mission.
The ruins are among the best-preserved of the several built within the Province of Paraguay, which Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay now split. It is one of the most popular destinations due to its accessibility.
The original missions erected in the “Guaran baroque” style were discovered in 1897, overgrown by lush vegetation. It drew considerable public attention after poet Leopoldo Lugones’ journey to the site in 1903. Official exploration and repair by the government did not begin until 1940.
The Mission of San Ignacio Miní
The San Ignacio Miní was initially a compound comprising religious buildings, private homes, and workshops. During the Spanish colonial time, Catholic Church was awarded unique privileges and large swaths of land. The Spanish frequently cited these rights in isolated locations, believing that the Church would convert and ‘civilize’ the natives.
In 1692, Jesuits from the Jesuit Order unearthed the original mission. It was built in a territory occupied by the Guarini people in what is now the virgin rainforest. The Jesuits effectively converted the locals to Christianity and convinced them to live sedentary lives. As a result, its mission grew throughout time, and the people began to build homes and engage in craft and trade around the churches.
The mission had grown into a sizeable town by the 18th century, with a population of 3,000 to 5,000 people, most of whom were Guarani.
In the world, the social fabric and economic model are considered unprecedented. Because of the structure and stability of the missions, they were able to come to terms with sanitary issues & avoid plague devastation, deter military attack, and preserve a totally self-agricultural economy with advanced skills & trades, which provided a good quality of life for everyone who lived there. As a result of these factors, San Ignacio Miní grew to a community of 28,714 people in its first 100 years. The population had grown to 141,182 by 1732.
San Ignacio Miní Today
The remains are undoubtedly the best maintained of all the Jesuit missions in South America, so they can be especially enchanting if you arrive early or late to avoid the crowd. Here, there’s a palpable sense of lost paradise.
The ruins are currently built of red-brown stone, but they were previously white. The Church is still the site’s primary attraction today. Although shorter hours in the winter, the facility is available every day and offers free guided tours in both Spanish and English (April-October).
The museum at the site is worth visiting if you want an objective account of the Jesuit industry in South America, especially regarding the Guaran people. There’s also a scale recreation of what the place looked like back in the day.
During the summer, there is a nightly lighting and sound show that uses projections to portray the narrative about San Ignacio, which is very popular with visitors.
Conclusion
The remains of So Miguel Arcanjo near Brazil, and those of the San Ignacio Miní, Santa Ana, Nuestra Señora de Loreto, & Santa Maria la Mayor in Argentina, make up the Catholic Mission of Guaranis, a serial international property. These are the spectacular ruins of Jesuit Mission villages built on territory once inhabited by Guarani indigenous people in the 17th and 18th centuries. The ruins of the So Miguel Arcanjo church in Brazil are the most complete and entire structure among the listed cultural monuments from this period. These four Jesuit-Guarani Missions in Argentina’s Misiones province give a fantastic example of planned and controlled territorial colonisation.
