Asunción – Not Quite Beautiful, but Worth Visiting

Paraguay was the second country I would visit on this journey through central South America. I had done what I thought was a reasonable amount of research before arriving, but I had still ended up with surprisingly few destinations planned in Paraguay.

As in most countries, however, the capital is often seen as the country’s heart.

So Asunción seemed like a natural place to visit.

Asunción is one of the older cities in the New World and is sometimes referred to as the “Mother of Cities.”

Presumably, this applies to the New World.

Unfortunately, very few colonial buildings have survived wars, redevelopment and modernisation.

Large parts of the city consist of low-rise buildings, usually only one or two storeys high, and many of them are in a rather poor condition.

Most are still perfectly habitable.

Others are not.

Throughout the city, there are abandoned villas and apartment buildings slowly falling apart.

Casa Ligier is one example.

Palacio de los López

Palacio de los López is probably Asunción’s greatest architectural pride and serves as the seat of the Paraguayan government.

It stands on a hill overlooking Asunción Bay and occupies a rather impressive position above the river.

The building has had a long and complicated history, but whatever has happened inside it over the years, there is no denying that it occupies a beautiful location.

Architecturally, it looks almost like an enormous wedding cake.

Which is not necessarily a criticism.

A railway without trains

Another interesting building that has survived is the old railway station.

Today it has a different role as a museum.

Paraguay, however, no longer really has a functioning railway network.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the country was actually something of a pioneer when it came to railways.

Asunción also once had a tram system.

By around the beginning of the new millennium, however, both had largely disappeared because of neglect and a lack of maintenance.

The old railway station remains.

A rather elegant reminder of a time when Paraguay was considerably more connected by rail than it is today.

Modern Asunción

Asunción also has a very different side.

Villa Morra is one of the city’s more modern neighbourhoods and is known as its commercial and financial centre.

Here you find some of Asunción’s most popular shopping centres, offices and modern buildings.

It feels very different from the historic centre.

Walking between the two is almost like moving between two different cities.

Museo del Barro

Not far from Villa Morra, almost hidden away on a quiet side street, is the Museo del Barro.

It is not a large museum, and from the outside, the modern architecture is almost more noticeable than the building itself.

Inside, however, it turned out to be one of the cultural highlights of my time in Paraguay.

The museum focuses on Paraguay’s multicultural identity, combining traditional Indigenous art with modern and contemporary Latin American art.

It is not the kind of museum that attracts enormous crowds.

But perhaps that is part of its charm.

A small cultural gem hidden away in Asunción.

Cementerio de la Recoleta

I have this slightly morbid attraction to cemeteries.

I had read about Cementerio de la Recoleta before arriving in Asunción, so naturally I wanted to visit.

I always find it interesting to see how cities treat their dead.

This cemetery is enormous and divided into several smaller sections, each with its own entrance.

It also seemed fairly obvious that the divisions reflected the wealth of the families buried there.

In the poorer sections, the graves are relatively simple and often badly maintained.

In the areas where Asunción’s wealthier residents found their final resting place, there is considerably more decoration.

And considerably better maintenance.

Apparently, social inequality does not necessarily end at death.

A capital that does not shout for attention

I did not have particularly high expectations of Asunción.

Perhaps that was why I ended up liking it slightly more than I expected.

It is not a city that immediately impresses you.

And there is still quite a lot that could be done to make the historic centre more attractive.

Several parks were closed off or looked neglected.

Many buildings stood empty and slowly deteriorating.

And the number of abandoned houses throughout parts of the city gave Asunción a slightly sad atmosphere.

But perhaps that is also why the city felt interesting.

It did not feel polished for tourists.

It did not seem particularly interested in trying to impress me.

It was simply there.

Asunción is also, like several other cities I had already visited on this journey, located beside a river forming the border with Argentina.

So once again, I could stand on one side of a river and look across at another country.

But now I was finished with Paraguay.

It was finally time to cross the river and enter this long-awaited country.

Even if it would only be for a few days.

Argentina.