MISIÓN JESUÍTICA DE JESÚS DE TAVARANGÜÉ

Unesco declared the ruins of the Jesús reduction a World Heritage site in 1993, along with those of Trinidad. It's one of the least-visited World Heritage sites in the world, so make the most of it! The Jesús de Tavarangüé reduction is one of the most complete expressions of Jesuit urbanism, and it would be a shame to be satisfied with a visit to the Trinidad mission alone (which receives four times as many visitors), given that the two sites are only 12 km apart and cabs are not very expensive. We recommend you take a guide, to discover this historical and cultural heritage in greater depth, and transport yourself back to the time of the missions. A twenty-minute video mapping show is projected onto the back wall of the church (in the open air), from Wednesday to Sunday evenings (6pm in winter, 8pm in summer, which leaves just enough time to join the Trinidad son et lumière show, which starts an hour later, but please note that timetables change regularly).

Reduction de Jesús was founded in 1685 on the banks of the Río Monday, before moving to the vicinity of Trinidad in 1758, to escape the bandeirantes. The layout of the mission shows similarities with Trinidad and other Jesuit missions: around the church, the center of spiritual life, were the homes of the Jesuit fathers and the Guarani caciques. The rest of the mission included cloisters used as workshops (foundry, pottery, mill, ovens, etc.), a courtyard, the tupa mbaé ("Land of God", collective property), the prison and the cemetery. Near the church was a large square oriented towards the four cardinal points, from which wide streets ran. The houses, or casas de indios, were rectangular with arcades. A sign at the entrance to the site gives an idea of the spatial organization of the reduction, which housed 3,000 Guaranis. The architecture of the reduction is characterized by a combination of different styles, notably Mudéjar, with tri-lobed arches, the only example of this type in the region. The most important building is the imposing stone church (62 m long and 24 m wide), which must have been the most imposing and modern in the region. It was under construction in 1767, when the Jesuits were expelled. The central pillars to support the future roof had already been built, but the temple was never completed, even by the Franciscans and Dominicans who took over, as shown by the inscriptions "S. Fra.co de Asis 1776" and "S.To Domingo de Gúzman" in the church above the altar. As in Trinidad, the reduction emptied of its inhabitants and was definitively abandoned around the middle of the ^19th century. Restoration work began in the 1960s. The site was cleared and the walls carefully cleaned of the thick vegetation that had covered them. In addition to the church, the visit also takes in the main square, the college, the coty guazú (an asylum for widows and orphans) and the orchard. Finally, don't forget to climb to the top of the 15-metre-high tower for a great view of the surrounding countryside, especially if you're there at sunset. On a clear day, it's possible to see the ruins of the Trinidad mission.