Posados and San Ignacio Mini

Posados

This colourful city, capital of the northern Misiones province, stands on one side of the great Rió Paraná. Across the water lies the Paraguayan city of Encarnación, joined by the impressive border bridge, San Roque González de Santa Cruz. Posadas is a small and friendly city which makes for a useful base to explore the nearby Jesuit missions.  The bridge across to Encarnación is one of only two border points between Argentina and Paraguay and thus allows for easy access to the missions on the Paraguayan side.

San Ignacio Miní

The ruins of San Ignacio Miní are the most popular and best preserved of the Jesuit missions. Only an hour’s journey from Posados, many choose to do this as a day trip; either after or before visiting the Iguazú falls. It is, however, a good idea, if you have the time, to spend a day or two in quiet San Ignacio. The village, dominated by day trippers, is peaceful in the mornings and evenings, allowing you to visit the sites undisturbed by the busloads of loud, pushy tourists who arrive after midday.

San Ignacio Miní, first founded in 1632, was one of the smaller missions with an estimated maximum of population of 3000 people. Its layout, following the general missions blueprint, consisted of a large central square around which the church, cemetery, residences and capildo were built. The church must have been a sensational sight.  With two huge towers either side, it measured a vast 74 metres long and 24 metres wide. Some of the ornate carvings that adorned the church are still visible, and buildings, although without roofs, leave you with no doubt as to the grandness of their original construction.  

An overnight stay also gives you the time to visit the house of well-known Uruguayan modernist poet and short-story writer, Horacio Quiroga; as well as watch the enjoyable light show that takes place every evening at the ruins. Quiroga (1878-1937) was a fantastic, if deeply disturbed, writer whose vivid style and imagination strongly influenced both the magic realism of Gabriel García Márquez and the postmodern surrealism of Julio Cortázar. His living quarters, which consist of one original house and another which has been rebuilt, offer an insight into the writer’s disposition and the important influence the surrounding scenery and atmosphere played on his poetic imagination. With many of his stories set in a surreal jungle landscape, visiting Qurioga’s house allows you to see how these ideas took form. Some of Quiroga’s work is available in English translation, and the collection The Decapitated Chicken and Other Stories is a particularly good introduction to this great writer.

The light show that takes place on the ruins every evening is not to be missed. Some may dismiss it as cheesy pro-Jesuit propaganda, but it is without doubt bloody good fun. Smokey projected figures dance around the ruins and tell the story of the founding of the mission and its everyday running. The dramatic music and bad jokes made by the large smiling computerised face of a Guarani narrator combine to make thoroughly enjoyable show. Even if you’re Spanish is shaky, it is not difficult to get the gist.