Below are some of the major travel highlights for Across the Southern Cone. For more in-depth attractions of each country on this route, click on the country names below or select a route to see the highlights on this section of the journey. Click on the icons below to focus on specific types of features (click again to return to all).

In-depth highlights: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay

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Religious Monuments of Santiago - Rio

Jesuit Mission of San Ignacio Mini
Jesuit Mission of San Ignacio Mini
Jesuit Mission of San Ignacio Mini

Five Jesuit missions were built in the land of the Guarani Indians in the 17th and 18th centuries, four of these are in present day Argentina and one in Brazil. The ruins at San Ignacio Mini are the best preserved of these. The missions were all laid out in the same pattern with a large open square surrounded by the church, residence of the Fathers and houses of the Indians. The Jesuits purpose was to educate the natives and convert them to Christianity and they also sought to protect them from capture and abuse from Spanish and Portuguese colonists.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis: San Ignacio Mini, Santa Ana, Nuestra SeƱora de Loreto and Santa Maria Mayor (Argentina), Ruins of Sao Miguel das Missoes (Brazil)