La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná
La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná ('The Most Holy Trinity in Paraná') is a former Jesuit reduction in the Trinidad district in the Itapúa department , Paraguay .
The ruins of the complex are not far from the center of the modern town of Trinidad and 28 km from the Paraguayan border town of Encarnación . The former Jesuit Reduction was founded in 1706 by the priest Juan de Anaya, in 1728 it had about 4,000 residents. In 1993, she was together with Ruins of Jesús de Tavarangue by the UNESCO for World Heritage declared humanity.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Jesuits made an attempt in today's 3-country area Brazil-Argentina-Paraguay to unite primitive Christianity with the Indian population. The missionaries succeeded in getting the Guaraní Indians to give up their ancestral home in the primeval forests and their nomadic life and settle in the Jesuit settlements. Under the leadership of the Jesuits, great achievements in handicrafts, agriculture and cattle breeding were achieved. For a long time, the Indios were able to defend themselves against the slave hunters who followed in the built-up cities. In 1767, however, the Jesuits were finally driven out and the cities began to fall apart. The Indians were either left to their own fate or were used by the Spanish colonial rulers for slave labor.
Still worth seeing today are the remains of the church planned by Juan Bautista Prímoli with the bell tower, the baptismal font, the pulpit and the sacristy. La Santisima Trinidad de Paraná is considered to be the best preserved Jesuit reduction in the region thanks to the remains of the main square, the cemetery and the residential buildings of the Indians.
Web links
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Patrimonio Mundial in Red Paraguaya
Coordinates: 27 ° 7 ′ 55.2 ″ S , 55 ° 42 ′ 7.2 ″ W.