Jesuit missions and their contributions to the historical construcción of the territory

Basin of the river Passage. Salta, Argentina

Abstract

The territory of the Pasaje or Juramento River Water Basin, in the province of Salta, Argentina, contains a set of archaeological sites that interact as a system of colonial cultural heritage assets. Among them are the ruins of the Jesuit Missions of San Esteban de Miraflores and San Juan Bautista de Valbuena that, in the mid-eighteenth century, the company of Jesus organized to gather the indigenous population with civilizing fines and evangelization. The article, worked on the basis of the results of the research project “Urban Planning and Architecture in Patrimonial Sites of the Pasaje River Basin, Salta” (2018-2019), the theoretical and historical lines that give rise to these goods; present archaeological works that produce new evidence in the first years of this century and process documents, graphics, photographic and bibliographic to deepen studies on territorial, physical-functional and building rights, of those little explored niches of research from the Field of architecture and urbanism. The main objective is to provide new knowledge that can encourage the development of interdisciplinary research projects and local and provincial management for the enhancement of these sites in the framework of a comprehensive and sustainable socio-territorial development plan.