The town of Yabebyry was established in 1790, and later, the towns of San Miguel and San Juan Bautista were founded. In 1906, the Misiones department was created in 1906 as the "San Ignacio" department with 8 districts: San Ignacio, Santa Rosa, Santa María, Santiago, San Juan Bautista, San Miguel, Ayolas and Florida. When the department was renamed as Misiones in 1945, its capital was moved from San Ignacio to San Juan Bautista.