A maze of regions and people, formerly known as Giant Province of the Indies in the past, and the main route used by the Spaniards in their exploration and conquest travels across the continent. Rivers are abundant and its geography has vast dimensions with huge valleys, dense forests, and steep and abrupt hills which still today provide the same landscape seen by its first governors.

Even though Paraguay has 406,752 kilometers square and a population of a little more than six million inhabitants, mostly concentrated in Asuncion –its capital– and few other cities, it continues to be a country waiting for time to be discovered. That’s why it has climbed little by little to become one of the best tourism destinations of the western hemisphere, without looking down on other themes and assets that are also worth enjoying, living and feeling. Associated to the binational hydroelectric complexes of Itaipu and Yacyreta, there are special environmental protection systems that make up outing to visitors. Some of them are the Biological Shelter of Tati Tupi, the Itabo and Limoy Biological Reserves, the Atinguy Wildlife Reserve Shelter and the Yabebyry Wild Life Biological Reserve, all of them have access up to its surrounding areas and have open trails for guided walks for bird and plant watching in their unaltered and thousand-year-old habitats. Sites like Mbaracayu, Cerro Cora, Defensores del Chaco and Ybyturuzu are a must in this area, as well as Pantanal, a region bordering with Brazil, whose capital Fuerte Olimpo is a second-to-none operation base to move around. Fuerte Olimpo is a very nice historical city with an interesting architectonic heritage boasting excellent hotels and good food. Because of its location it is particularly profitable as it allows access to the most striking landscapes of the north of Paraguay bathe by the immense river of the same name, without having to make exhausting trips and a comfortable backup guaranteed. The diverse and challenging geography and the hydrographic network which is a vital part of the Guarani Aquifer –one of the most important fresh water reservoirs of the planet–, are the cornerstone for the development of attractive options for adventure and sports tourism winning more enthusiasts every day. A longstanding tradition is sports fishing in the Paraguay, Parana and Tebicuary rivers; and so is rappeling, rafting, horseback riding and speleology, with sites offered by travel agents and tour operators operating in the country that can’t be turned down, like the Tagatiya River, the Mbaracayu forest, the Ybytyruzú mountain range and the Vallemi caverns. These are options available in any of the Paraguayan departments –Alto Paraguay, Alto Parana, Amambay, Boqueron, Caaguazu, Caazapa, Canindeyu, Central, Concepcion, Guairá, Itapua, Cordillera, Misiones, Ñeembucu, Paraguari, Presidente Hayes and San Pedro. Asuncion, the capital city With a little more than half a million inhabitants, Asuncion is a city trapped between the immensity of the nature surrounding it to the east and the Paraguay river, which apparently has marked its environment, its spaces full of beautiful vegetation with trees of different specie. Having no access to the sea, locals usually go to the river to cool off during the hot days of the southern summer; while hotels and many recreational facilities have high-quality and big swimming pools. As happens in many Latin American cities, the foundation stone and the grounds on which Asuncion was developed are most of its top attractions, among them National Museum of Fine Arts, the Holy Trinity church, the Cathedral, the Government Palace and the Carlos Antonio Lopez Central Train Station that was the main means of transportation of the country for a long time. It also houses a series of special spots like restaurants and cafes, theaters, galleries and reception rooms offering shows and good music. A pretty lively crafts market is stationed close to the Cultural Center of the Republic as a big showcase of Paraguay’s most authentic artistic expressions featuring items made out of leather, nanduti, cow horn, embroidery-looking gold and silver filigree in designs combining semiprecious stones that reminds us of colonial jewelry, pieces of pottery and much more. Being a city crossed by a fast-flowing and large river, one of the greatest rides offered by Asuncion is the Paraguay cruise in a period boat boasting large salons, restaurants, bars, comfortable cabins and lateral paddlewheel–Mississippi style- that sails up and down the Paraguay River on alternate days, making stops in spectacular sites. Jesuit Route Although Jesuit missions in the Southern Cone reached the northeast of Argentina, the south of Brazil and Uruguay, the most famous ones were established in the former Province of Paraguay or Guaranitica, where around thirty of them were founded as villages or reductions (settlements of Indians converted to Christianity). All the missions had one church, one square, the House of the Aldermen, the Council, the warehouse or tambo and the homes of the Indians who were given some plots of land and were taught how to cultivate the land and drove cattle by the missionaries. The economic growth and influence of the missions gave rise to a fierce grudge among the ruling powers of the epoch and generated successive attempts to submit them to the Spanish colonial authorities until the order was finally expelled from the American possessions as established in a royal decree in 1767. Today, those settlements make up a singular circuit of historical and archeological interest sprinkled with many other ingredients in both the Misiones and the Itapua departments. The most famous ones are World Heritage Jesuit Reduction of la Santisima Trinidad founded in 1706, where the church, the school, the workshops, the Indians’ homes and the cemetery remain standing; and the Jesús de Tavarangüe reduction dating back to 1685. San Ignacio Guazu, Santa Rosa de Lima, Santa Maria de Fe, Santos Cosme y Damian, and Santiago complete the list of the most significant settlements of this chapter of the Paraguayan diocesan history, south of the city of Caazapa, some 200 kilometers off Asuncion.