Santa Maria de Fe

Santa María de Fe was a Jesuit mission founded in 1647 and the village that grew on the site keeps its shape: a large grass plaza with ranges of low arcaded houses along the sides, the original mission quarters, and a church at one end. The museum in one of the ranges holds around fifty wooden sculptures made in the mission workshops by Guarani carvers under Jesuit direction, saints, angels and biblical figures in a style that fused European baroque models with Guarani carving, and it is generally considered the best of the mission collections in Paraguay. The village is small and quiet, and the plaza with its arcades gives a clearer picture of mission layout than the ruined sites do.

History

Father Emmanuel Berthot founded the town in 1647. The original church was lost to fire in 1889, but many of its paintings were saved and are shown in the present church and museum, and the French botanist Aimé Bonpland lived here until 1829, teaching the people new crops and ways of making sweets and liqueurs (Wikipedia, Santa María, Paraguay).

Highlights

• The sculpture museum - the fifty Guarani baroque carvings.
• The mission plaza - the grass square with its arcaded ranges.
• The house ranges - the low mission quarters still in use.
• The village church - the building at the head of the plaza.

When to go

April to October in the cooler dry season. The museum keeps daytime hours with a midday closure. Weekdays are quiet. It combines with San Ignacio Guazu nearby.

Practical notes

The museum is small and keeps a long midday break. Labelling is in Spanish. The village has minimal facilities. The mission buildings are simple rather than monumental.

Nearby

San Ignacio Guazu lies southwest; Santa Rosa is west.

Key facts