For foreign travelers, southeastern Corrientes Province, along the Río Uruguay, is primarily a transit route, with several Brazilian border crossings. To Argentines of all political persuasions, though, the sleepy village of Yapeyú occupies a special status as the birthplace of José de San Martín (1778–1850), the country’s most prominent—and romanticized—national hero. Many feel a patriotic obligation to visit his humble house, virtually preserved under glass, though there’s little else to see.

Barely a decade before his birth, Yapeyú had been the southernmost Jesuit mission in the upper Paraná-Uruguay drainage. After Spanish king Carlos III expelled the order from the Americas in 1767, San Martín’s father administered what remained of the mission (founded 1627), which once housed 8,000 Guaraní neophytes with up to 80,000 cattle in the vicinity.

Only the red sandstone foundations remain of the original Jesuit church and school, which burned to the ground in 1800; in 1817, Brazilian troops sacked the town. There is a small but worthwhile Jesuit museum in situ.

Yapeyú is 690 kilometers north of Buenos Aires, and 395 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital. It is six kilometers southeast of RN 14 via the Avenida del Libertador turnoff. All sights and services are within easy walking distance of Plaza San Martín, on high ground above the river.

Getting There

Three blocks northwest of the plaza, Yapeyú’s tiny bus station (Avenida del Libertador and Chacabuco) has services to Buenos Aires, Posadas, and intermediate points.