The coloured front
Decoration along the long roof.
AriomPardo — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marcelo Claros Marzana — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Montserrat Boix — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Montserrat Boix — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Montserrat Boix — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Montserrat Boix — CC BY-SA 4.0
Concepción Mission is one of the six Jesuit missions of Chiquitos added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1990. It lies in a quiet town at 500 metres in eastern Bolivia, and its large church, with coloured decoration and a separate wooden tower, is still the heart of town today. The Jesuits Francisco Lucas Caballero and Francisco Hervás founded it in 1699, and the village moved to its present site in 1722. The church was built between 1753 and 1756. In 1766 some 3,276 people lived here. After the Jesuits were expelled in 1767 many fled, and numbers fell through epidemics and famine, with indigenous people deported to the rubber plantations in the late nineteenth century. You see a long front in orange and brown with white and yellow decoration, under a roof reaching out on twisted wooden columns. In front stand a dark bell tower and a paved plaza. The porch looks out to Plaza 8 de Diciembre, with toborochi trees that flower pink in season. The mission museum tells the story of restoring the churches, with a tribute to Hans Roth, and the town has a traditional carpentry workshop. The town is 220.8 km in a straight line north-east of Santa Cruz and 53.8 km east of San Javier, about an hour and a half by bus from there. The church is a place of worship, so dress modestly and keep quiet. It is hot, so choose morning or late afternoon. British advice mentions a state of emergency and road blockades, so check your government's advice before travelling.
Decoration along the long roof.
Carved wood on the porch.
How the churches were restored.
Concepción town, Santa Cruz Department
It tells how the region's churches were restored and honours Hans Roth.
Yes, the bus between them takes about an hour and a half.