Sao Miguel das Missoes

Sao Miguel Arcanjo was founded in 1687 and its church, designed by the Italian Jesuit architect Giovanni Battista Primoli and built by Guarani craftsmen from 1735, is what remains: a red sandstone facade with its columns and pediment standing, and the tower beside it. The reductions were settlements where Jesuits and Guarani built a society with its own agriculture, workshops, music and printing, and at their height held tens of thousands of people. The 1750 Treaty of Madrid transferred this territory to Portugal and ordered seven missions relocated; the Guarani refused and were defeated militarily in 1756, and the system collapsed with the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767. A museum designed by Lucio Costa holds sculpture and stonework from the site.

What you actually see

• A standing sandstone facade - the 1735 church built by Guarani craftsmen.
• The mission ground plan - the outlines of workshops and living quarters.
• A Lucio Costa museum - sculpture and carved stone recovered from the site.
• The end of the reductions - the 1756 defeat and the 1767 expulsion.

When to go

March to November. Half a day, staying for the evening show if you have transport.

Honest expectations

Only the church facade and foundations survive, so this is a ruin rather than a building. The site is far from anywhere and Santo Angelo is the practical base. The sound and light show is in Portuguese. Summer heat on the open ground is heavy.

Nearby

Santo Angelo is the base town; the Argentine and Paraguayan mission sites are west.