The hook
The romantic red-stone ruins of a lost utopian experiment, the Jesuit "reductions," where in the 17th and 18th centuries priests and the indigenous Guaraní built a network of self-governing Christian communities, later swept away, and dramatised in the film "The Mission."
01Why it's worth it
In the borderlands where Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil meet, the Jesuits established the reductions: mission towns where they gathered the indigenous Guaraní into self-sufficient, semi-autonomous Christian communities that flourished for over a century, becoming remarkable centres of agriculture, craft, and above all music and baroque art, a genuine and unusual social experiment (the subject of the acclaimed film "The Mission"). When the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish empire in the 18th century, the reductions declined and crumbled, leaving evocative ruins. In Paraguay, the best-preserved are Trinidad (La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná) and nearby Jesús, UNESCO-listed sites where you can wander the roofless remains of grand churches, plazas, workshops, and living quarters in warm red sandstone, richly carved with baroque angels and ornament, standing quietly in the green countryside. Atmospheric, historically fascinating, and almost untouristed, they are the highlight of a country very few travellers visit, and they pair with the larger, complementary mission ruins across the border in Argentina and Brazil.
02How to experience it
Visit the ruins of Trinidad and nearby Jesús together (Trinidad is especially good in the low light of early morning or late afternoon), ideally with a guide or good background on the reductions and their history. They lie in southern Paraguay near Encarnación, and combine with the related mission ruins across the borders in Argentina and Brazil.