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Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos

Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos
A wooden bell tower and a church in three-quarter view. The bell tower consists of a roof-covered platform supported by four columns with twisted fluting. Clocks are attached to the platform and a spiral staircase leads to it. The facade of the church is white and decorated with orange paintings. The church roof is rather large.
Church in Concepción
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location Bolivia Edit this on Wikidata
Criteria iv, v
Reference 529
Coordinates 16°16′29″S 62°30′26″W / 16.2748°S 62.5072°W / -16.2748; -62.5072
Inscription 1990 (14th Session)
Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos is located in Bolivia
Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos
Location of Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos
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The Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos are located in Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia. Six of these former missions (all now secular municipalities) collectively were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990. Distinguished by a unique fusion of European and Amerindian cultural influences, the missions were founded as reductions or reducciones de indios by Jesuits in the 17th and 18th centuries to convert local tribes to Christianity.

The interior region bordering Spanish and Portuguese territories in South America was largely unexplored at the end of the 17th century. Dispatched by the Spanish Crown, Jesuits explored and founded eleven settlements in 76 years in the remote Chiquitania – then known as Chiquitos – on the frontier of Spanish America. They built churches (templos) in a unique and distinct style that combined elements of native and European architecture. The indigenous inhabitants of the missions were taught European music as a means of conversion. The missions were self-sufficient, with thriving economies, and virtually autonomous from the Spanish crown.

After the expulsion of the Jesuit order from Spanish territories in 1767, most Jesuit reductions in South America were abandoned and fell into ruins. The former Jesuit missions of Chiquitos are unique because these settlements and their associated culture have survived largely intact.

A large restoration project of the missionary churches began with the arrival of the former Swiss Jesuit and architect Hans Roth in 1972. Since 1990, these former Jesuit missions have experienced some measure of popularity, and have become a tourist destination. A popular biennial international musical festival put on by the nonprofit organization Asociación Pro Arte y Cultura along with other cultural activities within the mission towns, contribute to the popularity of these settlements.


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