Trinidad
To give it its full name, Santisima Trinidad del Parana. We came here to see the Jesuit Mission. The Mission was just around the corner from our hotel, so it was nice and easy. After buying entry tickets, we were shown a short video giving us an overview of history of the site.
Jesuits in Paraguay.
Jesuits came to Paraguay in the 16th century. Some sources say they came to convert the local indigenous Guarani people to Christianity and to protect them from exploitation and enslavement by the Spanish. Others claim they were invited to educate them and turn them into a more efficient workforce. Which ever was the case, their stay in Paraguay was brief but very efficient.
Who were the Jesuits?
The Jesuits are also known as the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuit Order. The Society was founded by Spaniard Ignatius of Loyola in 1540, together with 6 companions while at university in Paris. It is a Catholic order of clerics headquartered in Rome. Jesuits today are engaged in evangelisation and apostolic ministry in 112 countries. They work in education, research and cultural pursuits. They conduct retreats, minister in hospitals, sponsor direct social and humanitarian works, and promote ecumenical dialogue.
Missions in Paraguay
About 30 missions were built in the lush rain forest spreading between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. They were know as ‘reductions’. We visited the two most well known and well preserved in Paraguay, Trinidad and Jesus de Tavarangue.
Trinidad was founded in 1707 and built in an architectural style mixing European and Guarani techniques and religious symbols.
For about 150 years the Jesuits protected the Guarani from the raids of the slave hunters from São Paulo. They developed a kind of evangelism that put into practice the precepts of the gospel, but isolated the Guarani from the bad influences of the Europeans and developed their creativity.
The Guarani were very skilled in handicraft works, sculpture, wood carving etc , so the reductions became the first industrial state in South America. Such advanced products such as watches and musical instruments were produced in the reductions. The reductions became fully independent, self sufficient communities. The ruins today, which are now a UNESCO world heritage site, show how sophisticated a society they must have been.
In 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from Paraguay by order of the Spanish King Charles 111. Either due to the suppression of the Jesuit’s in several European countries, including Spain, or because they had become too powerful in Paraguay.
Jesus de Tavarangue
After we had spent the morning walking around the Trinidad reduction we drove the 11 kms to Jesus de Tavarangue. Here an enormous church was under construction but was not completed before the Jesuits were expelled. The structure is still very well preserved.
What could live here?
After visiting both sites we were hungry and so found a shady spot to have lunch in Poki. We had been having some WhatsApp correspondence during the morning with our shipping agent, who advises we need to come to his office with all our paperwork on 31st March and that Poki will be loaded into a container on 1st April. This means we need to be in Montevideo by about 28/29th to give us time to take boxes off the roof and organise our packing.
After visiting the missions we drove into Encarnacion, which is on the Parana river and borders Argentina. We will cross into Argentina tomorrow.
Posada – across the river in Argentina
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