The Misión San Francisco de Laishí is the principal attraction in the tiny colonial village of San Francisco de Laishí, some 75 km from Formosa, capital of the same-named province. The mission was founded by priest Pedro Iturralde in 1901 and is named after the Franciscan mission and the Toba cacique, Laishí, who previously owned the land. Toba is of Guaraní origin and means big forehead. The first Spanish settlers here also called them frentones (big foreheads). The mission proceeded to construct a school, workshops, and a church in their endeavor to civilize and teach the native Toba. In the Mission there’s a small museum with various historical objects including an old book of baptisms which were carried out by the Franciscan monks on the natives.