I found this on a travel website called Ruta Verde. Lots of good commentary and loads of pictures.Jesuit Missions in Bolivia
The Chiquitania receives its name from the native inhabitants of this area, the chiquitos or chiquitanos. In this place Jesuit Missions were settled in the second half of the XVII century (from 1691 until 1760). They remain in time as an extraordinary legacy because they are the only Jesuit missions in South America which were not destroyed after the Jesuits were expulsed from the Spanish colonies. They are not ruins but villages full of life, with people who still go to mass in the same majestic churches or to enjoy the same baroque music concerts, in the same way they used to do when the Jesuit ruled these missions three centuries ago.
The following are the Missions we visit in our Jesuit route:
The Chiquitania receives its name from the native inhabitants of this area, the chiquitos or chiquitanos. In this place Jesuit Missions were settled in the second half of the XVII century (from 1691 until 1760). They remain in time as an extraordinary legacy because they are the only Jesuit missions in South America which were not destroyed after the Jesuits were expulsed from the Spanish colonies. They are not ruins but villages full of life, with people who still go to mass in the same majestic churches or to enjoy the same baroque music concerts, in the same way they used to do when the Jesuit ruled these missions three centuries ago.
The following are the Missions we visit in our Jesuit route:
San Javier
The baroque style church (built between 1749 y 1752, and restored between1987 and 1993) is part of the first Jesuit mission in Chiquitos founded in 1691. The edification invites to enjoy the artistic beauty of its architecture with carved ornaments in the columns and drawings in wood with yellow brown and black colors.
Concepción
It has a Jesuit baroque style church built between 1752 and 1753, restored and reopened in1982. It is built with 3 main structures, row of columns carved in wood, altars and paintings made by the local native people. This church is considered as the jewel of the region, watching it at sunset is an unforgettable view.
San Ignacio
The baroque style church (built between 1749 y 1752, and restored between1987 and 1993) is part of the first Jesuit mission in Chiquitos founded in 1691. The edification invites to enjoy the artistic beauty of its architecture with carved ornaments in the columns and drawings in wood with yellow brown and black colors.
San Ana
Santa Ana de Velasco, founded in 1755, was founded by one individual, the Jesuit missionary Fr. Julián Nogler. It is also the only settlement that has its complete original church still intact. The church was built after the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767. Santa Ana is a quiet little town with barely 280 souls and with a timeless feel to it.
San Miguel
San Miguel was founded in 1721 and is a small town, with less than 5,000 inhabitants. Like its sister communities of Santa Ana and San Rafael, San Miguel is a quiet spot where time seems to have stood still for the past three centuries. Its church is considered the most historically accurate of all the restored Jesuit churches.
San Rafael
San Rafael, the second oldest mission settlement, was established in 1696. Translated once in 1701 and again in 1750, it shares many of the same characteristics that nearby Santa Ana de Velasco and San Miguel de Velasco possess: a timeless charm, tranquil lifestyle, and fidelity to its Jesuit-inspired traditions.
San José
San José de Chiquitos, the third-oldest Jesuit mission in the Chiquitania, was founded in 1696. It is one of only four missions that has retained its original location. The town is quite peaceful, much like what Santa Cruz was fifty years ago: wide, dusty streets straight out of a Hollywood western movie, complete with cowboys, ranchers, and a dusty but charming main square.
Link to Ruta Verde (here)
Photo is of the Concepcion Mission
2 comments:
Been there and seen it! AWAESOME!
You do not mention that the person who was responsible for the restoration of a number of these churches was the Swiss architect Hans Roth. He became a dear friend of mine when we were both students at the Heythrop Pontifical Athenaeum (in Oxfordshire, England) in 1965-66. After many years as a Jesuit student he left the Society before ordination, got married, and moved to Bolivia with his wife and children, and worked on the restoration of much of the Baroque Jesuit architectural heritage there. He did this largely by training the native peoples in the construction skills their forefathers had first acquired under the original Jesuit missionaries.
I corresponded periodically with Hans (though our letters often went astray before reaching their intended destination). He told me in one letter how he had discovered in the choir loft of one of the churches he was restoring a vast cashe of sheet music (some liturgical, some for when labouring in the fields), many pieces of which had been composed by an 18th century Jesuit who came from the same village/town in Switzerland that Hans came from.
He was truly a great man. His contribution to the beauty of what is admired in the churches in Chiquitos should not be forgotten.
Luke Gormally
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