Santisima Trinidad del Parana Mission, Paraguay

In 1773 Pope Clement XIV finally supressed the Jesuits. Pombal had expelled Jesuits from the Portugal and its territories in 1759, King Charles III  from Spain and its dominians in 1767, France in 1764.The first time I read this I found it inexplicable. This group of dedicated men had been evangelising into the furthest part of the world for over 200 years, overcoming impossible linguistic and cultural boundaries, and facing many dangerous hostile peoples. Their  educational contribution  in general subjects and religious formation wherever they went was huge. Yet the Pope let them go and they were expelled and supressed  around the world, many returning to Italy. I am saddened and ashamed. 

Perhaps the tragedy of their demise is greatest in the Reductions of South America - in present Paraguay, north eastern Argentina, southern Brazil and eastern Bolivia. Their influence remains in the wooden church architecture around Asuncion and the Roman Catholic faith.   I hope that knowledge of what the Jesuits achieved in the Reductions will grow all over the world.  Even Voltaire admitted in later life "The establishment in Paraguay by the Spanish Jesuits appears alone, in some way, the triumph of humanity. It seems to expiate the cruelties of the first conquerors. The Quakers in North America and the Jesuits in South America gave a new spectacle to the world."

First a word about Reductions - comes from Spanish reduccion  -meaning a community. The Jesuits set up missions among indigenous people which gradually became a physical settlement with church and houses. Historically the Guarani were semi-nomadic. The Jesuits showed them how to build more permanent homes and develop agricultural and artistic skills. The Guarani were not hostile and only became so when Spanish settlers tried to take them as slaves. The Jesuits were different, offered protection, and treated them kindly, working to produce a blend of indigenous and a Hispanic Christian cultural environment. The Jesuits worked with the local Guarani chiefs so it was more like a commune. They encouraged the growing of yerba mate (used as tea) and this became used as the local currency.

Trinidad Mission

One of my first posts was the Reduction of Sao Miguel dos Missoes in Brazil and it reminded me of the famous film The Mission.  awakened interest in the Reductions but this was 1986! some tourists are discovering these sites. For example Monkey'sTale blog  and the Blog of Dimi. I am very grateful to both of these for most of the photos in this post. I regret that this 78 year old Englishman is unlikely to visit these quiet atmospheric sites now! 

I am returning to this subject now in 2026 and in Paraguay. I admit I don't think I have ever met anyone from Paraguay - we are not really an insular lot in St Albans! -  but I have met Uraguayan tourists here. 

There were 8 Jesuit missions in Paraguay and today one of the highlights is Trinidad, 25 miles from the city of Encarnacion. It was founded relatively late in 1706 with perhaps 600 famiilies and was perhaps the most ambitious. By 1725 there may have been 4000 residents.The buildings were allowed to go into ruin overcome by forest. Major archaeological work in 1981 has discovered statuary and uncovered the best preserved portions of any mission in Paraguay. 

View up the nave of the church

The church ia usually thought to be by Br Gianbattista Primoli from Milan (1673-1747}. He is also credited with San Migoel dos Missoes and worked in Cordoba, Argentina and Buenos Aires. His achievement at Trinidad  built primarily by Guarani workmen and the inspired carved stonework is amazing. No wonder it is a UNESCO site.

It conforms to the usual layout of with the mission containing church at the centre cloisters, workshops, garden, cemetery and jail,  facing onto a large plaza. Also on the plaza a house for the Jesuit Fathers and one for the Guarani chiefs. There were residential blocks in streets on a chequer board plan to house particular social groups or families The format of these was influenced by exiisting Guarani villages. Long one storey appartment blocks were built along the sides of the plaza, with individual cubicles for each family, They were surrounded by a veranda on stone columns. The verandas are still there in Trinidad - the only part of the building left. From a  distance they look more like aqueducts. 

Now take a look at Dimi's drone tour of Trinidad site. Until I saw this I could not grasp the shape of the site. Thank you Dimi!

The church was originally vaulted and the nave was 11 metres wide with a dome  and with vaulted aisles 6 metres wide. After the place was cleared and the inhabitants left in the 1760s we think the new occupier decided to build a house and removed stones from the church's buttressing - thus the vault collapsed! Also the weight of the stonework caused the building to sink which also caused collapse. 

The walls were of sandstone and the capitals of columns or pilasters in composite style with leaves and flowers probably of Guarani inspiration. There is a remarkable frieze at the top of the back wall of the facade. with angels playing music on various instruments (love these)   including a Paraguayan style harp, maracas, a clavichord, and an organ. I had read about these is CJ McNaspy's 1982 book Lost cities of Paraguay and Monkey's Tale blog is equally enthis by Zipoli iastic about them.  This reminds us that the Guarani were enthusiastic musicians. 

The music at Sunday Mass would  have been Italian Baroque influenced. I find it fascinating to try to imagine what it would have been like. Bells would have rung, congration arrived. Kyrie- and harp, rest of Mass with boy choir of maybe 30 plus some older men and instrumental group of violins, chirimias (Like oboes) and Bajones (loike bassoons) The setting below by Domenico Zipoli Missa San Ignacio gives an idea. The version I found on Youtube has rather more performers but gives an idea - in fact it is amazing! This version by Ensemble Elyma consducted by Gabriel Garridoblew me away! Do try it.

There is a pulpit and font. On a more somber note there is a room adjacent to the nave which may have been a prison holding as many as 12 people, with small opening at the top so that sermons could be heard. The doors linking the sanctuary with the sacristy display a profusion of local flowers. There is a prominent separate tower in good condition well away from the main church : was this  the bell tower? There is also a smaller church ruin which may date from 1776 , several years after the Jesuits left. I am encouraged that the legacy wa not totally lost.The population dwindled to 57 families in 1788. The ruins were discovered in the late 20th century.