B ... is for Baroque

But perhaps not the baroque you were thinking! This is Guarani Baroque, the architectural style that developed in the Jesuit missions that grew up along the Parana River in Paraguary, Argentina and Brazil, from 1609, when the first mission was established, up until 1767, when the Jesuits were expelled due to their increasing independence from the Spanish and Portuguese colonial administrations. For an excellent overview of the history and geographical spread of the Jesuit missions, Robert H. Jackson's presentation has some wonderful old maps and photographs of some rarer locations.

San Ignacio Mini is hardly one of those magical names that sing in the public consciousness when one thinks of South America.  It should be, however. The beauty and power of the ruins is simply breathtaking, tumble-down and nearly reclaimed by the jungle as they are. These are World Heritage Listed properties, and San Ignacio Mini is the most accessible of 28 "reducciones" that gave birth to a new cultural movement: the Guarani Baroque.

The Jesuit priests ministering to the Guarani sought not to simply spread the word of their God; it is said they sought build utopian communities in the tradition of the early Christian communities, where all social life and commerce proceeded from and for the communal religious effort.  Each reduccione was no less than a planned community; humble accommodation for the weavers and spinners and cooks and hunters; fancier accommodation for the Guarani elite and the priests.

Fanciest of all, of course, was the church itself, fronted by a plaza and enhanced by terraces to focus the social life of the community on the religious centre. The stone churches that are (mostly) visible today were built over early wooden versions; by the time a community was sufficiently established to warrant a stone church, the artisan skills taught by the Jesuits has been mastered by their Guarani workforce.  Over time, this  led to the flowering of a new aesthetic: European lines, with Guarani motifs.  The Guarani Baroque is also observable in music, art and literature produced from the reduccione period.  The US documentary channel PBS recorded a special on The Music of the Missions, with playable sound files.

Today (or more correctly, in 1999, when we visited, and in 2004, when the World Monuments Fund outlined some progress in protecting the site), San Ignacio Mini remains remarkable, red brick walls jutting proud from the green jungle, its fabulous Guarani motifs blending native spirituality with the European need to stamp dominance on every corner of the earth.  But the allure of this site, for me at least, is in seeing it reclaimed by the jungle, even as the beautiful paved patios; the neat little houses, and the gorgeously carved stone church crumble into dust. Nothing, not even the greatest of cultural marriages, endures forever. Such a Catholic message, that.

Previously:  A is for Amazonia