Misión Jesuítica de Santísima Trinidad del Paraná

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About Misión Jesuítica de Santísima Trinidad del Paraná

The mission of Santísima Trinidad del Paraná sits atop a hill about 30 km from Encarnación, in the district of Trinidad. It was founded in 1706 and by 1728 had around 3,000 Guaraní. It is the most extensive and best-preserved of Paraguay's Jesuit missions and, together with Jesús de Tavarangüé, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.

The village layout is clearly readable on the ground: the main plaza at the center, the principal church on one side with the cemetery, the garden and the school, and on the other sides the indigenous houses in long rows of rooms with galleries of stone arches. The church, designed by the Italian Jesuit Juan Bautista Prímoli, was the largest built among all the missions.

Inside the church, the stone pulpit, assembled from more than a thousand pieces, bears figures of the evangelists, still with traces of color. Along the walls runs the frieze of the musical angels, with angels playing different instruments, a record of music in the missions. There is also the baptismal font, the sacristy portal and stone rosettes above the lintels. The tower, somewhat set apart from the church, has a square base and may have served as a belfry or lookout.

In the old sacristy there is a small museum with sandstone sculptures and a model of the mission. At night, a light-and-sound tour goes through the illuminated ruins, with portrayals of life in the mission. The ruins are subject to ongoing restoration and maintenance work.