Sao Miguel das Missoes, Brazil

Ruins of Sao Miguel das Missoes, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruinas_de_Sao_Miguel_das_Missoes.jpg
Author: Goldemberg Fonseca de Almeida


São Miguel das Missões, or St. Michael of the Missions, are the ruins of an early Jesuit mission in region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Also known in Spanish as San Miguel Arcanjo in Spanish, it is one of the Jesuit Reductions, or mission stations, scattered throughout Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia.

Along with the Jesuit missions of the Guarani Indians on the Argentine side, Sao Miguel das Missoes was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1984.

Inside Sao Miguel das Missoes
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruinas-saomiguel3.jpg
Author: Leandro Kibisz

What to See

The ruins of Sao Miguel das Missoes is still standing. You can view the old church bell near the church itself.

History

Sao Miguel das Missoes was built between 1735 and 1745. When the area fell under Portuguese rule, following the Treaty of Madrid of 1750, the Jesuit priests were ordered to move. They refused to vacate Sao Miguel das Missoes, and this led to a conflict with the Portuguese-Spanish army, which was sent to enforce the rule.

Fiction

The 1986 movie The Mission is based on the Jesuit Missions of the Guarani. The set recreates what Sao Miguel das Missoes might have looked like.

Facade of Sao Miguel das Missoes
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruinas-saomiguel2.jpg
Author: Leandro Kibisz

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