Our Tour to The Ruins of San Ignacio Miní is perfect for travelers who love history. Discover these Jesuit Missions. which have been impeccably preserved and proudly declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Our Hotel is near San Ignacio in Argentina, just one and a half hour drive, 120 km away. The Ruins are located in the town of San Ignacio, Misiones Province. The tour encompasses a visit to the interpretation center, the museum, and the historical site, which includes professional bilingual guides specializing in these Jesuit Missions.
Keep reading to learn more, and feel free to reach out to us for tour booking options.
Duration of the tour visit: 4 hours (approx.). Check rates.
San Ignacio: Argentina’s UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE
San Ignacio Miní, a Jesuit reduction founded in the early seventeenth century, played a pivotal role in evangelizing the Guaraní natives.
Who built San Ignacio Mini?
San Ignacio Mini’s construction in Argentina dates back to around the year 1610. The Jesuit missionaries established the mission to escape attacks and invasions by bandeirantes and mamelukes, who besieged Jesuit reductions with the intent to capture natives and sell them as slaves. The Peruvian Jesuit priest, missionary, and writer Antonio Ruiz de Montoya arrived with 12,000 aborigines, re-founding Loreto and San Ignacio Miní, also known as San Ignacio de Ipaembucú.
The San Ignacio Miní settlement endured for 150 years until the Society of Jesus was expelled from the Spanish colonies. The aborigines struggled to maintain the Jesuit-designed structure, leading to a rapid demographic decline.
In 1817, the San Ignacio reduction suffered looting and burning, along with other reductions, by Paraguayan troops during the prevailing anarchy in the country.
The Misiones territory was annexed to Corrientes province in the following years, as part of Argentina. The region remained practically uninhabited until 1870 when non-indigenous contingents returned, occupying the area bordering the Paraná River and the Yabebirí stream. This coincided with the end of the War of the Triple Alliance and the definitive separation of Misiones from Corrientes province.
Recent history commenced with the measurement carried out by National Surveyor Don Juan Queirel, who delineated the urban center of San Ignacio by order of the Corrientes provincial authorities on September 25, 1877. The new town was officially founded on January 18, 1907, with the arrival of the first settlers. Among them were nMarcelino Boix, Pablo Allain, Joaquín Alcaraz, Pablo Martín, Adolfo Lanusse, and the Palacios brothers.
The Missions of San Ignacio Miní boast an Interpretation Center providing insights into the daily lives of the Guaraní aboriginal group until the Jesuits’ arrival, alongside an account of the conquerors’ arrival and the resulting cultural symbiosis. The tour concludes with a scale model of the mission, depicting San Ignacio Miní at the peak of its history.
If you want to visit the Ruins of San Ignacio Miní, please contact us here and our tour booking representatives.
HOUSE OF HORACIO QUIROGA MUSEUM
The excursion also includes a visit to the House of Horacio Quiroga, a museum that has on display the belongings and testimonies of the work of the Uruguayan writer who settled in San Ignacio in the early twentieth century.
MIGUEL NADASDY MUSEUM
Founded by a Romanian citizen who brought private collections from Europe, the Miguel Nadasdy Museum features a censer from the Reductions of San Ignacio Miní, a Christ of Patience, and the model of Moses, an original piece supposedly crafted by Michelangelo.
The collection includes numerous pieces from the Guaranitic and Jesuit Guaraní periods, along with religious imagery, chandeliers, a Jesuit column in stone bas-relief, farming elements, enameled ceramics, utensils, and numerous documents.