The Guaraní mission towns, organized and administered by Jesuits in Paraguay during The seventeen Thand eighteenth centuries, were perceived as a wonder by contemporary savants who were roused by visions of a community of good savages living in rustic plenitude under The paternal supervision of benevolent priests. These towns are a mirage of baroque splendour in The midst of tropical forest; a Christian commonality evocative of The philosophically ordered Republic of Plato, or of Campanella's City of The Sun. The reductions (reducciones) of Paraguay, The Río de la Plata and present-day Bolivia formed The living heart of This complex of religious, economic and educational institutions which The Jesuits built up in Paraquaria. This religious province, configured in 1610, extended over present-day Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, part of Bolivia and south western Brazil. Over The course of 160 years, The members of The Society of Jesus founded approximately one hundred missions. Eventually, many of Them were destroyed, moved or merged. The core of the Jesuit Republic was constituted by the famous ‘33 towns’ in which, at the peak of their population curve in 1732, lived more than 140,000 Guaraní. The number of Jesuits was comparatively small. By 1692 there were 249 Jesuits in The province, of which 73 were in the missions.