A November 15, 1573, on the banks of the River of Quiloazas, was born the city of Santa Fe's founder, Don Juan de Garay, fulfilling the mandate given to open doors to the ground. This expression indicated the need for an intermediate port between Asuncion and Buenos Aires, to provide a level safe for travelers.

The founders who came with Garay, were Creoles born in this land and give the city the character of a new mestizo cultural synthesis.

The fledgling settlement soon manifested his desire to have the presence of religious of the Society of Jesus. In 1595, lobbyists write him the Father Provincial Juan Romero, who lives in Asuncion, begging sending Jesuit priests. This request was met only in 1609, when they arrived in Santa Fe, Father Francisco del Valle and Brother Juan de Sigordia. The following year he began to build the school and the church that the Jesuits took up the transfer of the city, which occurred between the years 1651 to 1660 about the site currently occupied.

In 1634, passing through the city towards the Reduction of San Ignacio Mini, an artist of fine sensibility, Brother Louis Berger. At the request of congregant Marian gladly agreed to represent the Woman of Revelation 12. The picture is called as the Marian Congregation, "of the Pure and Immaculate Conception." He was captured on a canvas measuring 1.33 x 0.96 m and is now venerated in the Shrine of Our Lady of Miracles of Santa Fe

Architectural aspects. CULTURAL HERITAGE

We meet at one of the oldest cultural-historical evidence architectural "foundational area."

The original facade still retains a plaque indicating the year of its origin: 1660. The original building completed in 1700 had a tower on its north side, which collapsed in 1714, currently being occupied surface covered with a tin roof on wooden crosspieces at the top of his forehead on the same side, lacking decorations and flat surface. On the lower level and how is the cemetery crypt, occupying underground part of the North aisle.

On the axis of the nave, a door with round arch, framed by pilasters and a lintel straight serves single primary access from the street. Almost on the same plane and level of the choir within, we see three windows, facade topped with curved moldings top closure that serves the central and older, blind walled interior, possibly to provide thermal protection Cavaillé-Coll organ of great value heritage.

The current tower completed in 1755, responding instead to a massed provided architectural ornaments, pilasters, cornices and doorways surmounted by a steeple topped by a square belfry with pillars at the corners. It has three levels: the first provides access to the chorus, the second the bell tower itself, which has three bells suspended hardwood beams, and finally accessing the belfry. All of them with a structure of beams and wooden rafters holding flat bricks to support the subfloor and the cement floor. Inside are visible lintels, horizontal and vertical reinforcements embedded in the masonry primitive and rustic thick coatings or devoid of plaster.

Inside the temple had a rectangular nave Latin cross, retaining walls, even the primitive wall, stone Parana River and mud bricks, with a thickness of over 2 meters in some cases, a gable roof sheathed tiles, galvanized sheets currently on ceiling plaster, and barrel vaults.

At the beginning of last century aisles were added, on the north side occupying the old cemetery and the South side of the current Patio de los Naranjos, coupled spatially with the nave by three arches, while introducing , neoclassical decorative elements that have nothing to do with the design, simplicity and primitiveness of the early stages of its construction, purely colonial. These aisles are covered for three and a circular cupola spherical dome protruding outwardly evident by the lack of unity.

Special mention six existing windows on north and south walls, as well as the two doors together inside the Church and the Patio de los Naranjos of the College of Immaculate Conception.

The presbytery was the subject of arrangements to introduce changes in the liturgy, the Vatican agreed, was placed limestone tile floor and a wooden stage where it would be the altar rail, bridging the gap. Also retired from the altarpiece of the altar table, center for celebration of Mass facing the faithful. This altarpiece, made ​​in the former Loreto reduction as well as the pulpit in the center houses the miraculous image of Our Lady of Miracles painted in the year l634.

In relation to the thickness of the walls, highlighting its space utilization, in the case of the pulpit, built inside the staircase and in the sacristy or vestry South undermined a cabin six feet wide, with wooden doors screened and carved, with direct view to the sanctuary through a small window of four panes distributed.

It was declared a National Historic Monument by Decree No. 112,765 of 1942.

Cavaillé-Coll organ. The features.
The body of the shrine has two manual keyboards and a pedal keyboard. The records of each key are:

MANUAL I :

* Bourdon 16 '
* Montre 8 '
* Salicional 8 '
* Flûte Harmonique 8 '
* Bountiful 4 '

MANUAL II :

* Viola da gamba 8 '
* Voix celeste 8 '
* Cor de nuit 8 '
* Trompette 8 '
* Human Voice 8 '(*)
* Basson-Hautbois 8 '

PEDAL :

* Soubasse 16 '
* Basse 8 '
* Trompette 8 '
* Clairon 4'(**)

(*) Is not an original record. The tubes are building Locatelli (Italian) and will probably put them in place of the original record Clairon 4 'whose pipes do not know what fate had.

(**) While the record indicates externally the name Clairon 4 'tubes this record does not exist. So to actually operate this handle tubes are activated Hautbois 8 'of the second manual.

The body of the Church of Our Lady of Miracles was built by the renowned French Aristide Cavaille-Coll, whose factory based in Paris in the nineteenth century, built over 700 instruments to temples and auditoriums around the world. In Argentina there is only one of those 700 instruments and is currently enjoyed in the celebrations and occasional concerts.

This instrument was built in 1886 and corresponds to the Opus 589 of the factory A. Cavaillé-Coll. Originally sent to Buenos Aires and assembled in the Church of the Savior, the same Society of Jesus, and in the early twentieth century was transferred and mounted in its present location.

In Argentina and especially Buenos Aires, there are other organs of the firm, but they belong to the period when the factory had already passed to Charles Mutin, who bought it in 1898 Aristide. Himself died the following year, so our body is the only one there for those who made the first author.

Worldwide there are only two bodies that were built with the same matrix and that share similar characteristics: one is in Brazil and one in France.

Importantly, this instrument has not been modified in its original mechanism, which remains much as it was originally built.