Old Jesuit Map of Paraguay by Fritz, 1733: Asunción, Encarnación, Iguazú, Paraná R., Paraguay R

2026-04-11T04:09:21+01:00

Price: 0.00 - 1975.00 (33 variants)

Le Paraguay ou les RR. PP de la Compagnie de Jesus ont repandu leurs Missions . . . 1733 presents Samuel Fritz’s penetrating vision of the Jesuit world in the heart of South America. Composed at the height of missionary endeavor, the map concentrates on the riverine corridors and mission fields of Paraguay and adjoining Brazil, where the Society of Jesus orchestrated an ambitious network of settlements and evangelization. A sumptuous cartouche at upper right proclaims the title and authorship, its Baroque exuberance balancing the map’s sober geographic precision. A finely drawn compass rose sets the orientation, while carefully arrayed toponyms and river threads unfold a landscape at once spiritual and strategic—an atlas of faith and frontier that guided travel, governance, and conversion along the Paraná and Paraguay waterways.

Fritz’s work stands as a considered update of Juan Francisco D’Avila’s rare 1726 delineation of the Jesuit Provinces, absorbing fresh field observations to sharpen hydrology, toponymy, and routes. Settlement names, distinctively italicized, punctuate the missionary footprint and distinguish larger towns and reducción sites from lesser posts. The Paraná and Paraguay Rivers, the lifelines of movement, appear with tributaries and bends recorded through lived experience, augmented by annotations that clarify navigation and local conditions. Mountain ranges and hills are portrayed with neat contour-like linework, a tactile cue to elevation changes that mattered for portages and defense. The result is a humane cartography—technical yet immediate—grounded in the reports of fathers who sounded channels, counted leagues, and mapped souls as well as shores.

Across this canvas, Asunción anchors the Spanish provincial order, a governor’s seat and supply nexus feeding upriver missions and trade. Southward, the Encarnación region—long a hinge between river and reducción—clusters along the Paraná, emblematic of the Jesuit project’s density and resilience. Eastward, the strategically charged confluence near today’s Ciudad del Este emerges as a pivotal crossing on the approach to the Iguazú, a threshold between Guaraní heartlands and forested marches. Fritz’s labeling threads these spaces into a coherent itinerary, showing how catechesis, agriculture, and craft production radiated from missions linked by canoes and seasonal caravans, a web whose strength lay in waterborne mobility and shared language.

The map also reads as a ledger of imperial contest. To the east, Curitiba signals the Portuguese sphere edging inland from the Atlantic slope, beyond the serried hills of the Serra do Mar. Westward and southward, Spanish jurisdictions—and the Jesuit guardianship of Guaraní communities—face pressures from bandeirante incursions and ambiguous treaty lines inherited from Tordesillas. This geography of claims and crossings resonated in Europe: Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville would later synthesize South American knowledge from many sources, explicitly crediting recent maps from the Paraguay missionaries. Fritz’s rendering belongs to that chain of intelligence—local testimonies refined into continental science—where mission diaries, river logs, and boundary debates converge on the printed sheet.

Stylistically, the piece marries devotion and empiricism. The ornamental cartouche, emblem of status and authority, frames a work animated by practical aids: a crisp compass rose for bearing, italic scripts for hierarchy of places, and marginal notes that illuminate fords, rapids, and regional peculiarities. The contour-like depiction of relief lends tactile depth to the routes threading from reduction to reduction, while the Paraná and Paraguay, broad and certain, guide the eye as they guided canoes. As a historical artifact, it distills the Jesuit ambition to chart as well as to convert—turning a vast, river-fed interior into legible space—and preserves the moment when South America’s interior passed from rumor to reasoned, missionary-informed geography.

Cities and towns on this map

Asunción — Modern population: ~500,000

Encarnación — Modern population: ~100,000

Ciudad del Este — Modern population: ~300,000

Curitiba — Modern population: ~1,900,000

Notable Features & Landmarks

Cartouche: Highly ornate design at the top right, indicating the map's title and creator.

Rivers: Clearly marked rivers such as the Paraná and Paraguay, showcasing their vital role in navigation and trade.

Topography: Mountain ranges and hills are illustrated with contour lines, demonstrating elevation changes in the landscape.

Settlement names: Various settlements identified with italicized labels, typically larger towns or mission sites.

Annotations: Additional notes provided for navigation or explanations of geographical features.

Directions: Compass rose indicating orientation, helpful for understanding the map's layout.

Historical and design context

Name of the map: Le Paraguay ou les RR. PP de la Compagnie de Jesus ont repandu leurs Missions . . . 1733

Created by: Samuel Fritz in 1733

Description: Detailed map of the Jesuit Regions of South America, based on observations by Jesuit Missionaries.

Context of creation: An update of Juan Francisco D'Avila's rare map of the Jesuit Provinces from 1726, with improved details.

Historical reference: Linked to the work of D'anville, who created a map based on various sources, including recent maps from Paraguay Missionaries.

Themes shown: Focus on Jesuit missions, settlements, and geographical features in Paraguay.

Geographical coverage: The map predominantly covers regions that are part of modern-day Paraguay, portions of Brazil, and any surrounding areas influenced or mapped by Jesuit missions.

Design/style context: The cartographer employed an ornate cartouche, showcasing artistic elements typical of the period, indicating the significance of the map.

Historical significance: Reflects the Jesuit efforts to spread Christianity and their impact in South America, as well as serving as a geographical reference for missionary work.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x16in (40x40cm) version of this map.