Iglesia de San Ignacio

Santa Cruz & Gran Chiquitania


The first mission church at San Ignacio de Velasco, founded in 1748, was once the largest and most elaborate of all the mission churches. It was demolished in the 1950s and replaced by a modern abomination. Realizing they’d made a hash of it, the architects razed the replacement and designed a reasonable facsimile of the original structure. The new version retains a beautiful altar and wooden pillars from the original church and overlooks an extensive and well-pruned plaza.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Santa Cruz & Gran Chiquitania attractions

1. Museo Misional de Ignacio de Velasco

0.13 MILES

Inside the Casa de Cultura is a small museum with photographs of all the churches on the circuit and background information on the missions. The tourist…

2. Jesuit Mission Church

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The church of San Miguel's spiral pillars, carved wooden altar with a flying San Miguel, extravagant golden pulpit, religious artwork, toy-like bell tower…

3. Iglesia de Santa Ana

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Santa Ana church, with its wooden altar and reed roof, is more rustic than others on the mission circuit and recalls the first churches constructed by the…