La Santisima Trinidad de Paraná
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La Santisima Trinidad de Paraná, or the Holy Trinity of Paraná is the name of a former Jesuit mission in Paraguay. It is an example of one of the many Jesuit Reductions, small colonies established by the missionaries in various locations in South America throughout the 17th and 18th century. Reducciones were built as miniature city-states that integrated indigenous populations with Christian ideaologies.
La Santisima Trinidad de Paraná, often referred to by the locals as simply the "ruins of Trinidad" was one of the last of the Jesuit reducciones to be build in the Parana River area encompassing southern Paraguay and northern Argentina. It is also the most highly accessible and the most visited of the historical sites today. Located near the modern day city of Encarnación, Trinidad was originally constructed in 1706, the intended self-sufficient city came complete with a central meeting plaza, a large church meetinghouse, a school, several workshops, a museum and housing for the local Indian population.
The decline of Jesuit influence in the area led to the abandonment of Trinidad and the rest of the reducciones, which were left to decay. Owing in part to its relatively recent construction, Trinidad bore the weathering of time fairly well, and modern historical societies have maintained the current, well-preserved state of the ruins to this day. It has also been named one of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Paraguay.
