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Within the circuit of the Jesuit Ruins in Misiones province, there are several settlements with the vestiges of the union between white man and aborigines in a conjunction of science and art. Between the XVII and the XVIII centuries, Jesuits and Guaraníes shared their cultures in peace.This is one of the few cases where colonizers did not repress the American culture, but preached the Gospel, their habits and forms of social and labor organization without objecting to their original ones.
These settlements were invaded and displaced on several occasions by the Bandeirantes from Brazil in order to capture aborigines and sell them as slaves and in 1768 missionaires were expelled by the Portuguese and the Spanish, who ended up evangelization and submitted the guaraníes, putting an end to Jesuit civilization. |
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Most of these ruins are near Posadas city. San Ignacio is the best known, frequented by a large number of tourists, but there are some lesser ones also worth visiting, in the middle of the jungle, not so much frequented. |
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Ruins of San Ignacio Mini
These ruins were established as Man´s Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1983.
They are 60 km. from the capital of Misiones province, and we access to them from San Ignacio village along national route 12. In the settlement there is a spectacular restauration work of the buildings of carved red grindstone and eruptive rock.
The tracing of the settlement is outstanding. The court of arms, the central quarters, the town council, the church, the dwellings of the aborigines and the jesuits, the hospital, the school, the workshop and the store were carefully designed and organized.
In the evening there is a spectacle composed by sequenced color lights and didactic historical narrations of the origins of this civilization to the expulsion of the jesuits. |
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Ruins of Santa Ana
Situated in Santa Ana village, 40 km. from Posadas along national route 12, they were established as World Heritage by the UNESCO in 1984.
The first foundation was in the hills of Tapé in Brazil in 1633. After four years of invasions of bandeirantes, they occupied different temporary sites on the margins of Parana river. Finally after three decades, they deffinitively settled where the ruins are today. At present the jungle has invaded the red moors and almost estrangled them like a boa to its prey.
The visitor will see the main square, the church, some dwellings, workshops, the cementery, and vestiges of watering troughs and a watering system. |
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Ruins of the Mission of Nuestra Señora de Loreto
Distant 50 km. from Posadas city along national route 12 and founded in 1632 by fathers Simón Maceta and José Catadino, the last settlement dates from the year 1632. Here was the first press in a savage territory, and an important number of texts were printed, mostly in guarani language. Later the settlement was abandoned as a result of harassment to the jesuits, sackings and fires, what finally caused the aborigines to be displaced.
In the area there are several jesuit ruins. On the way to San Javier along provincial route nº 2 passing by Itacuaré we get to the ruins of Santa María la Mayor, and only 19 km. from Posadas are the ruins of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, which was see of the Guarani Missions and administrative center.
At present the most outstanding ruins are in the Penitentiary of Candelaria, a structure with a first floor and a basement. |
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Santiago Gaudio 
