San Ignacio Guazú

San Ignacio Guazú was the first Jesuit mission founded in what is now Paraguay, established in 1609, and although the church itself is gone the colonial college survives and holds the finest collection of Guaraní baroque sculpture in the country. Hundreds of carved wooden saints stand in the rooms where they were made, showing how Guaraní carvers reworked European models into something of their own. The town square keeps the mission plan. Santa María de Fe and Santa Rosa nearby hold further collections and a rare painted chapel. The town sits on the main road south and is easily combined with the ruins.