CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
312 km from Jesús to Jesús, about 6 h 02 of riding. It goes by way of San Ignacio Mini, Santa María la Mayor and back through San Ignacio Mini. It crosses from Paraguay into Argentina - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
The most striking thing about Jesus de Tavarangue is what is missing. The church tower is a rectangular stone shaft rising into the air with nothing attached; the great church it was meant for was never finished. In 1767 the Spanish crown expelled the Jesuits from its territories, and the mission, which was in the middle of its final, grandest phase of construction, was abandoned. What remains is a handsome ruin of red sandstone, with arches, columns and carved details, set in a grassy plaza under the subtropical sky, silent and a little strange.
Read the complete Jesuit Mission of Jesús de Tavarangue write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jesuit Mission of Jesús de Tavarangue is where the day begins. Next is San Ignacio Mini.
Red sandstone, carved with angels, vines and saints, rises out of the green jungle of northeastern Argentina at San Ignacio Miní, the best preserved of the Jesuit missions in the province of Misiones. Founded in the early seventeenth century and moved to its present site in the 1690s, the mission was a town for several thousand Guaraní people, organised by Jesuit priests, with a great church, workshops, houses, a school and a plaza. The church's facade, in a style often called Guaraní Baroque, combines European forms with local motifs carved by Guaraní craftsmen. The mission, with others in Argentina and Brazil, became a World Heritage Site in 1983 and 1984.
Read the complete San Ignacio Mini write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
San Ignacio Miní comes up about 55 km into the recorded legs. Next is Santa María la Mayor.
Red earth is the first thing you notice in Misiones, the thin finger of northeastern Argentina squeezed between Paraguay and Brazil. The soil is the colour of a brick, the forest is subtropical, and the roads cut through it leave long scarlet stripes on the verge. Santa María la Mayor, a small town of under two thousand, lies in this country, and its main attraction is a ruin the forest nearly swallowed.
Read the complete Santa María la Mayor write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 156 km into the recorded legs you reach Santa María la Mayor. Next is back through San Ignacio Mini.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete San Ignacio Mini write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through San Ignacio Mini, late in the day. Next is Jesuit Mission of Jesús de Tavarangue.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jesuit Mission of Jesús de Tavarangue write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Jesuit Mission of Jesús de Tavarangue. That is the ride.
Jesuit Mission of Jesús de Tavarangue → San Ignacio Mini is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
San Ignacio Miní → Santa María la Mayor is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Santa María la Mayor → back through San Ignacio Mini is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through San Ignacio Mini → Jesuit Mission of Jesús de Tavarangue is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.