Society - May 10, 2026, 6:15 AMHow Trinidad Lost Its Saints: A 19th-Century Collector’s Tale
In 1887, Uruguayan traveler Adolfo de Bourgoing, on a mission for the newly founded Museo de La Plata, negotiated with local leader Buenaventura Flecha to acquire religious artifacts from the Jesuit ruins of Trinidad, Paraguay. The account, published in Bourgoing's book and recently reissued by Tiempo de Historia and Fondec, details the removal of statues, altars, and other relics from the former Jesuit reduction.
historyjesuit-reductionstrinidadmuseumartifactsadolfo-de-bourgoing