Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos Bolivia

Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos - Bolivia 

Short Report

Between 1696 and 1760, six combinations of reducciones (settlements of Christianized Indians) inspired by the 'ideal cities' of the 16th-century philosophers were founded by the Jesuits in a style that married Catholic architecture with local traditions. The six remaining - San Francisco Javier, Concepción, Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Rafael, San Jose - a live heritage in the former territory of the Chiquitos.

Wide Report

Sent by the Spanish Crown to ensure the conquest of Indias del Cielo, the Jesuit Fathers arrived at the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1567 to Christianity to the indigenous communities. The first collegiate church was founded in 1577 in the, on Bolivian Foreign territory; in 1592 a new house is located in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The Jesuits seemed to have rationalised in the Chiquito territory, the model of reducciones (settlements of Christianized Indians) which was inspired by the ideal city of the humanist philosophers. Between 1696 and 1760, six groups reducciones founded in a style that married Catholic architecture with local traditions.

They defined the urban model: the houses of the Indians at regular intervals along the three sides of a rectangular square, with the fourth reserved for the church, the collegiate church, two workshops and schools, and sometimes also for the Casa de la Misericordia (some almshouse regularly spent), which housed widows and abandoned women. In contrast to other Jesuit Missions in South America abandoned after 1767, the World Heritage Site the reducciones survived the expulsion of the company of Jesus. The six remaining - San Francisco Javier, Concepción, Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Rafael, San Jose - a live heritage in the former territory of the Chiquitos.

The churches of the Chiquitos of Bolivia Missions are a remarkable example of the adaptation of the Christian religious architecture to local conditions and traditions. Long walls where three aisles separated by wooden columns and two outer galleries, also supported by columns, forms a very unique type of architecture, characterized by the special treatment of the wooden columns and railings. Only San Jose is an exception, because the stone construction was inspired by a Baroque model. This traditional architectural ensemble, which often drive excellent popular art, vulnerable, under the influence of changes that threatened population after the reform the World Heritage Site of 1953.

San Francisco Javier, the most western and the earliest, is now a small village whose traditional habitat stores some of the features of the domestic architecture of the Jesuits, although the height of 6.25 m for each property is rarely encountered. The school has survived, as well as the church, the work of Father Martin Schmidt. Concepción, founded in 1709, was not definitive until 1722. The church, which began in 1725, is also a work of Father Martin Schmidt. Santa Ana was founded in 1755 and the church was built between 1768 and 1831, after the expulsion of the Jesuits. San Miguel is founded in 1721. The church, the construction of which began in 1750 and was built according to the design of Father Johann Messner. San Raphael has taken from the Jesuit period only the church, built in 1750 by Father Schmidt. It is distinguished by a outside promenade gallery and a wooden bell tower. San Jose, established in 1698, is one of the most interesting reducciones of Chiquito. Four chapels for processions are on the corners of the square. The religious ensemble was thoroughly reworked in the 18th century.

Source:whc/unesco