- San Ignacio Miní
Infobox World Heritage Site
WHS = Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis: San Ignacio Mini, Santa Ana,Nuestra Señora de Loreto and Santa Maria la Mayor (Argentina), Ruins of Sao Miguel das Missoes (Brazil)
State Party = ARG and BRA
Type = Cultural
Criteria = iv
ID = 275-291
Region = Latin America and the Caribbean
Year = 1983
Session = 7th
Extension = 1984
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/275San Ignacio Miní was one of the many missions founded in 1632 by the Jesuits in the
Americas during the Spanish colonial period near present-day San Ignacio valley, some 60km south of Posadas,Misiones Province ,Argentina .The original mission was erected near the year 1610 by priests José Cataldino and Simón Maceta in the region called
Guayrá by the natives and "La Pinería" by the Spanishconquistador es in present Paraná State,Brazil . Because of the constant attacks of the PortugueseBandeirantes , the mission first moved in 1632, and didn't settle in its current location until 1696, and was called San Ignacio Miní ("minor" in Guaraní) to distinguish it from its bigger homonymSan Ignacio Guazú ("great").In the 18th century the mission had a population of around 3000 people, and a rich cultural and handicraft activity, which was commercialized through the nearby
Paraná River . Nevertheless, after theSuppression of the Society of Jesus of 1767, the Jesuits left the mission a year later, and the mission finally destroyed in 1817, as well as other missions in the area.The ruins are one of the best preserved among the several build in a territory today belonging to Argentina,
Brazil andParaguay , and one of the most visited due to its accessibility. Lost in dense vegetation, the remains of the "Guaraní baroque " stile constructions were found in 1897, and gained the interest of the population after the 1903 expedition by poetLeopoldo Lugones , but its restoration didn't begin until 1940.The main square was surrounded by the church, a
cabildo , a cemetery, a monastery and some houses. The magnificent church with 74 metres length and 24 metres width was designed by Italian priestJuan Brasanelli , and build using the local red sandstone. The width of the walls are around 2 metres, what in spite of the fragile material let the constructions remain standing after over two centuries.In 1984 the ruins were declared as
World Heritage Site byUNESCO , and currently hold the "Museo Jesuítico de San Ignacio Miní" museum.Other Jesuit missions' ruins in the Misiones Province are "Reducción de Santa Ana", "Santa María La Mayor", and "Nuestra Señora de Loreto".ee also
*
Architecture of Argentina
*Jesuit Reductions
*São Miguel das Missões References
* [http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=206294 La imborrable huella evangelizadora]
La Nación es
* [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/275/documents/ UNESCO's World Heritage] en/frExternal links
* [http://gosouthamerica.about.com/od/history/a/JesuitMissions.htm Jesuit Missions in South America]
* [http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi99/interolimpicos/camino-evangelizador/rui_saig.htm San Ignacion Ruins] es
* [http://www.turismo.misiones.gov.ar/ Misiones' Turist office] es
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