Trinidad
A Jesuit mission town begun in 1706 in the south of Paraguay, its square and churches still standing, with the sister mission of Jesús a short drive up a side road.
- Arrival
- Silvio Pettirossi, Asunción · ASU
- To the ruins
- Km 31 on the road from Encarnación
- Private jets
- Encarnación ENO, about 17 km away
- Best time
- November to April
The city
What the Jesuits built for the Guaraní.
The Jesuits founded thirty mission towns among the Guaraní of the River Plate region. Trinidad, designed by Juan Bautista Primoli from 1706, was the most ambitious of them, and UNESCO counts its plan as the best kept: a great square, a main church and a smaller one, the school, the cemeteries.
Jesús de Tavarangue is a short drive away. Its church, planned on a Roman model at seventy metres long, was still unfinished when the Jesuits were expelled in 1767, and it stands that way today. Both sites joined the World Heritage list in 1993. The months from November to April are hot here; the evening visits are the gentlest way to see them.
- Santísima Trinidad del Paraná The square, the two churches and the school of the 1706 mission, walked by day or during the evening light and sound visit.
- Jesús de Tavarangue An unfinished church seventy metres long, left as it was in 1767, with a 3D projection on its walls after dark.
- Encarnación The river town 31 km south, with beaches on the Paraná in summer and a carnival in January and February.
Arriving
By road from the Paraná.
The ruins lie at kilometre 31 on the road north from Encarnación. Long-haul passengers come in through Asunción; a private aircraft can land at Encarnación’s airport, about 17 kilometres away in a straight line.
- Buenos Aires 1 h 30
- São Paulo 1 h 40
- Santiago 2 h 25
- Lima 3 h 55
- Lagos 9 h 50 long-range jet
When to go
November to April.
There is no dry month in Itapúa: every month brings at least 97 mm. The summer season, November to April, is when the region receives visitors, with afternoons of 30 to 32 °C, so a morning start or an evening visit suits the ruins best. June and July are milder, at about 22 °C.
- 32° J 137
- 32° F 155
- 30° M 140
- 27° A 163
- 24° M 147
- 22° J 132
- 22° J 102
- 23° A 97
- 25° S 135
- 27° O 180
- 30° N 142
- 32° D 145
Where to stay
Down the road in Encarnación.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
-
Awa Resort Hotel The base for the missions: 87 rooms and a spa in 17 hectares of gardens, given its five stars by Senatur in 2020.
Elsewhere in Paraguay
More reasons to come.
Flying to Trinidad?
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