São Miguel das Missões

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Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis: San Ignacio Mini, Santa Ana, Nuestra Señora de Loreto and Santa Maria la Mayor (Argentina), Ruins of Sao Miguel das Missoes (Brazil)*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Interior view of the ruins of São Miguel das Missões.
State Party Flag of Argentina Argentina and Flag of Brazil Brazil
Type Cultural
Criteria iv
Reference 275-291
Region† Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription history
Inscription 1983  (7th Session)
Extensions 1984
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
† Region as classified by UNESCO.

São Miguel das Missões (Portuguese for the "St. Michael of the Missions") is a Unesco World Heritage site since 1983 located in the small city of São Miguel das Missões in northwestern Rio Grande do Sul state in southern Brazil. It was also known as "São Miguel Arcanjo" and by its Spanish name "San Miguel." It is one of many Jesuit Reductions in Argentina and Brazil. Jesuit missionaries founded the mission in the 18th Century in part to catechise the Guaraní indian population and to protect the natives from Spanish and Portuguese slave traders.

Façade of São Miguel das Missões.
Façade of São Miguel das Missões.
Old church bell and native art in the Missions Museum.
Old church bell and native art in the Missions Museum.

The Mission was constructed from about 1735-1745. Despite the efforts of the Jesuits, the slave trade of the Spanish and Portuguese empires eventually conquered and the Mission was abandoned. The Cathedral in nearby Santo Ângelo city is modeled after the São Miguel das Missões reduction.

The ruins of São Miguel das Missões are protected by UNESCO. Geographic coordinates for the site are: 28.562778° S 54.553889° W.

The Mission, a 1986 film starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons, is about the Jesuit Missions of the Guaraní.

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[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
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World Heritage Sites in Brazil
Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves · Brasília · Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves · Central Amazon Conservation Complex · Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Park · Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves · Historic Centre of São Luís · Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia · Historic Centre of the Town of Diamantina · Historic Centre of the Town of Goiás · Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda · Historic Town of Ouro Preto · Iguaçu National Park · Pantanal Conservation Area · Pico do Jaraguá · Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas · Serra da Capivara National Park
Shared with Argentina: Ruins of São Miguel das Missões (Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis)


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