San Ignacio Miní
San Ignacio, Argentina
In the midst of the Argentine rainforest stand the ruins of San Ignacio Miní, a seventeenth-century Jesuit mission complex.
Site History and Significance
In the midst of the Argentine rainforest stand the ruins of San Ignacio Miní, a seventeenth-century Jesuit mission complex. With the aim of converting the native Guaraní population, the Jesuits established 30 missions in an area of South America that now includes parts of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. San Ignacio Miní was constructed in 1666 in the Spanish baroque style, heavily influenced by indigenous motifs. In accordance with the prescribed layout of all missions, San Ignacio Miní had a central square with buildings clustered around it. The complex was equipped with a variety of resources including a hospital, a school, dormitories, and a magnificent stone church with a wood interior. While the religious activity at the mission influenced Guaraní culture, it also played a role in keeping it alive by protecting its people and their language. San Ignacio Miní sheltered its constituents from ongoing wars and slave traders. The facility also owned several printing presses which supplied spiritual texts and other works in the Guaraní language. Following the Guaraní War in the 1750s and the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, the missions were abandoned to the elements.
1996 World Monuments Watch
The ruins of San Ignacio Miní were closed to the public in the early 1990s because of structural instability. Over the centuries, multiple collapses had occurred and erosion by wind, water, and biological growth threatened further damage. The nearby town had expanded to envelop the site, putting it at risk for looting and increasing drainage and sewage problems. WMF placed San Ignacio Miní on the Watch list in 1996 (and again in 2004, once the project was under way, as part of a group nomination of the South American Jesuit missions).
Click on the image block to read more about our work at this site.
San Ignacio Miní