Mission of San Miguel and Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Mission of San Miguel

   Deep in the Bolivian lowlands, the Chiquitania is a land of dry tropical forest, red earth and granite outcrops, a long way from the Andes. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Jesuit missionaries gathered the Chiquitano people into settlements here that blended European Baroque with local craft, and six of those mission towns survive. San Rafael and San Miguel, a short distance apart in the east, are among them, and UNESCO listed the group in 1990.

   Read the complete Mission of San Miguel write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Mission of San Miguel 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 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos.

3. 3. 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

   about 204 km into the recorded legs you reach Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos. 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 Mission of San Miguel.

5. 5. Mission of San Miguel

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mission of San Miguel write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Mission of San Miguel. That is the ride.