From 1643 to 1762, Jesuit fathers built the Iglesia Parroquial Nuestra Señora de la Merced , the estancia’s most impressive building. Directly south of the church, the colonial Jesuit workshops of El Obraje (1643) are now a public school. Beside the church is the Museo Histórico Nacional del Virrey Liniers , named after former resident Virrey Liniers, one of the last officials to occupy the post of Viceroy of the River Plate.
If you want to know every last historical detail, guided tours in English (AR$40 per person; held at 10am, 11:30am, 3:30pm and 5pm) are available and recommended – call to reserve one day in advance. If you just have a passing interest, each room has an information sheet in English, which gives you a fair understanding of what’s going on.
Directly north of the museum, across Av Belgrano, the Tajamar (1659) is one of the city’s several 17th-century dams, which together made up the complex system of field irrigation created by the Jesuits.
