Ruins of Nuestra Señora de Loreto Mission (47 K)

Nuestra Señora de Loreto Mission
Founded in 1610 in the region of the Guayrá moved because of attacks of the bandeirantes in 1632) by the Jesuit Antonio Ruiz of Montoya. The mission finally settled down in the region of the Yabebyrí, in 1686.
Here the first printing press in the Jesuit Province of Paraguay was set up in 1700. Some of the first books made in Argentina were printed here. Covered by the forest, only the foundations and walls stand out, some stones have been covered by trees altogether.
It occupies an extension of 75 hectares and, as in other missions, it presents an orderly layout around the main square where the group of the church, sacristy, school, cemetery and vegetable garden have been placed.
The houses of the Guarani Indians occupy the sides of the square. Towards the north the remains of an hexagonal chapel can be seen. The construction was done in stone and adobes; the structures were made of wood and the roofs of tiles.
There are also ruins of washrooms, irrigation channels and the place where the printing press had been set up.
In 1984, the Loreto mission was included in the List of World Heritage. It was destroyed by a Paraguayan Governor.