Missioning Through Posadas

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Posadas was not on our original list of places to visit. Although we knew of the historical Jesuit missions in the area, we had chosen to sacrifice them, leaving more time for adventures further South. Time was beginning to run out on our South American tour and we still had lots we wanted to see. As it turned out and as luck should have it, the bus timetables threw the modern riverside city of Posadas a lifeline and we had to route through it to get to our chosen destination of Rosario, so we gave it a day to see what it could come up with...

Based on only a 1 day visit to the city of Posadas, it would be unfair to criticise the place but we're unfair and we're going to anyway because we think there was nothing that jumped out as being particularly worthwhile seeing. The main attractions here are the nearby Jesuit missions and San Ignacio Miní, the largest and best preserved, was a worthwhile day trip, albeit a rushed one. Lonely Planet advises on staying in San Ignacio, rather than

belting out on a day trip from Posadas

. We ignored their advice... We felt we were acomplished and independent travellers by that stage - we didn't need some book to tell us what to do! Well, I hate to say it but those know-it-alls at LP were right. It was a push (especially as we had an evening bus to catch) and we only had an hour to enjoy the reduccións (missions) before

belting

back!

Our 1 hour in San Ignacio was well worth it. It's a beautiful place and both of us agreed, it serves as a great spot to simply wander and enjoy the tranquility. The ruins are also certainly worth seeing with lots of carved ornamentation in the Guaraní Baroque style, still visible and intact.

The mission was started by the Jesuits, a group of Catholics of the Society of Jesus order, to preach to the local Guaraní population their Christain beliefs. At its peak the reducción housed nearly 4,000 Guaranís but eventually the Jesuits who had grown powerful and wealthy, were expelled by Spanish and Portuguese colonizers who wanted to enslave the Guaranís. As a result the reducciones were abandoned and over the years slowly decayed. In the last 50 years much of the buildings were restored and after the mission became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984, its future was guaranteed.

Our visit ended with a mad dash back to Posadas on a local bus, followed by a taxi to pick-up our bags before heading back to the bus station just in the nick of time, to catch the last bus to Rosario. Then we were treated to the joys of another night's sleep in a reclining chair with crap films dubbed in Spanish whilst attempting to get more than 10 minutes of uninterrupted sleep!

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Photos

For Me?
A gift from Miss Ramsey (it goes with the T-shirt).

A Heart of Stone
This strangler fig tree has enveloped one of the stone pillars (as seen in the foreground) and is hence known as the "tree with a heart of stone".

Casa de Gobierno
This impressive 19th century building runs along one edge of the plaza.

A Pirate Ship??
This was in the San Ignacio Mission museum, don't ask why, we have no idea what the relevance is!

Missionary Monks
Another weird and creepy elemnt of the on-site museum.

An Intricately Carved Archway
In the Guaraní Baroque style.

The Main Mission Plaza
Now a big grass field.

The Main Cathedral
San Ignacio's largest red sandstone structure at 74m long and 24m wide with walls 2m thick. It is slowly being restored (hence the scaffolding) - there's still much work to be done...

A Yerba Tree in the Mission
It was the Jesuits who introduced the drinking of Yerba Mate to the local population.

Bolivar Street
Fairly typical for Posadas, not very exciting!