San Ignacio Jesuit Mission

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Catholic Jesuit missionaries built a number of missions throughout northern Argentina, in an effort to spread Catholicism, and to teach local Guaranis Indians the Spanish language. The priests also helped the indigenous population organize militias to defend themselves against Portugese Bandeirante slavetraders from the north, arming them with guns and gunpowder. In 1641, at the Battle of Mborole, the Guarani militia was able to defeat an army of over 1500 slave traders and Tupi allies.