SAN IGNACIO MINÍ reducción jesuítica (Jesuitic
reduction), Misiones, Argentina.
The first Jesuit
mission called San Ignacio was originally founded in 1610 by fathers Jose Cataldino
and Simon Masceta in the Guayrá region, together with other reductions. In 1631 the
missions were devasted by the "bandeirantes" (slave hunters), only San Ignacio
and Nuestra Señora de Loreto were the only ones which resisted the siege.
After these
attacks, in 1632 the towns were moved near the Yabebirí Stream in the present province of
Misiones (Argentina). The real mission of San Ignacio Miní was established in 1696 and
was destroyed by the Paraguayans in 1817. The actual ruins were inscribed in 1983, by
UNESCO, in the list of World Heritage sites with this description: the ruins of São
Miguel das Missões in Brazil, and those of San Ignacio Miní, Santa Ana, Nuestra Señora
de Loreto and Santa María la Mayor in Argentina, lie at the heart of a tropical forest.
They are the impressive remains of five Jesuit missions, built in the land of the Guaranis
during the 17th and 18th centuries. Each is characterized by a specific layout and a
different state of conservation. San Ignacio Mini is near the town of Posadas in Argentina.
