The Jesuitic Missions in Chiquitos, Bolivia. Alternative conservation and restoration strategies for a
complex cultural asset
The system of Jesuitic Missions in Chiquitos Region, in the eastern territories of present-day Bolivia,
constitutes an important case study useful to understand an alternative approach to the restoration of the
cultural heritage. The evangelization of South American territories imposed, throughout the eighteenth
century, the creation of new urban settlements, aimed at improving the housing conditions of indigenous
peoples and, at the same time, allowing the construction of important religious structures (Jesuitic Missions)
in order to spread the Christian belief in the area. The contribution to the conference aims to analyze Roth’s
interventions in the Jesuitic Mission at different scales, in order to re-read their importance and study their
scope (operational and symbolic) over time. Through a visual reading of the state of conservation of the
assets, it is thus intended to understand whether Roth’s innovative conservation measures have been able
to respond adequately to the test of time and the critical climatic and environmental conditions of the
area.