Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos and Mission of San Rafael

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos

   The plains of eastern Bolivia look wholly unlike the Andes people picture. This is the Chiquitania, a gently rolling country of dry forest, red earth and granite outcrops, where in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Jesuit priests founded a string of mission towns for the Chiquitano and other peoples. Six of the surviving churches are listed by UNESCO as the Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos, with San Francisco Javier, Concepción, Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Rafael and San José among them. They are working churches, and the wooden columns, painted ceilings and carved pulpits still serve their communities.

   Read the complete Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos is where the day begins. Next is Mission of Santa Ana.

2. 2. Mission of Santa Ana

   Santa Ana is a tiny village in the lowlands of eastern Bolivia, in the Chiquitania region, and its church is considered by many to be the most authentic of the Jesuit missions of Chiquitos. The missions were founded by Jesuit priests in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries among the indigenous peoples of the region, the Chiquitanos, and became thriving communities centred on large churches built of wood and adobe, with vast roofs supported by carved wooden columns. Six of them were listed by UNESCO in 1990.

   Read the complete Mission of Santa Ana write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mission of Santa Ana comes up about 119 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mission of San Rafael.

3. 3. Mission of San Rafael

   The Jesuits who came to the lowlands of eastern Bolivia in the late seventeenth century did something remarkable with the forest, the heat and the people they found, the Chiquitano. Between 1691 and 1760 they founded a string of mission towns, and six of them survive, with churches built of wood and adobe, painted inside and out with floral patterns and trompe-l'oeil columns. San Rafael de Velasco, with its church finished in the 1740s, is one of the prettiest, a white and ochre building with a deep porch and an open bell tower, set in a village square with red earth and big shade trees. The missions were listed by UNESCO in 1990.

   Read the complete Mission of San Rafael write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 143 km into the recorded legs you reach Mission of San Rafael. Next is back through Mission of Santa Ana.

4. 4. back through Mission of Santa Ana

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mission of Santa Ana write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Mission of Santa Ana, late in the day. Next is Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos.

5. 5. Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos. That is the ride.