Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
respite from its smog. Once a week boats
also leave for Concepción in the north
(see p.696).
Immediately opposite the palace is a
terrace of old buildings with Italianate
facades which are known collectively as
the Centro Cultural Manzana de la Rivera
(Ayolas 129; daily 8am-6pm; free; T 021
442 448, W centroculturalmanzanarivera
.blogspot.com), a series of restored houses
dating from 1750, housing the Museo
Memoria de la Ciudad , with artefacts from
the city, a gallery space with temporary
exhibitions, a library and a bar which fills
with people having after-work drinks
overlooking the beautifully lit palace.
dating back to 1811, is one of the oldest
and most important buildings in the
country. It was here that the architects
of Paraguayan independence secretly met
to discuss their plans. Today it houses
a museum with artefacts from the time
of the declaration of independence, and
there is a lovingly preserved colonial
alleyway alongside.
Plaza Uruguaya
The leafy Plaza Uruguaya has several
bookshops in the middle and its gentle
pace is encapsulated in the nostalgic and
elegant Estación de Ferrocarril (México
145, entrance on Eligio Ayala; Mon-Fri
7am-5pm; Gs10,000; T 021 447 848,
W www.ferrocarriles.com.py), the city's
old railway station, which dates back
to 1861. It now serves as a museum to
Paraguay's historic railway, with grand
old carriages in the station hall to wander
around. Things get slightly seedier in the
Plaza at night, but the surrounding streets
become the centre of the city's nightlife.
Plaza de Armas
A two-block walk east along El Paraguayo
Independiente from Palacio de Gobierno
will bring you to the unofficially named
Plaza de Armas (also known as the Plaza
Mayor, Plaza de la Independencia, the
Parque de la República or the Plaza del
Marzo Paraguayo). This square, home to
some of the most important buildings in
the city, feels sleepy and almost forgotten.
It is dominated by the Cabildo , which
housed the national congress until 2004
when a modern building was completed
just of the northwestern corner of the
square along Avenida República. Built in
the 1840s, the Cabildo now houses the
Centro Cultural de la República (Mon-Fri
9am-7pm, Sat & Sun 10am-5pm; free;
T 021 443 094, W www.cabildoccr.gov.py),
which exhibits important historical pieces,
such as the López's presidential throne
alongside displays about famous national
musicians and actors, while there are often
free concerts and talks in the evenings.
On the southeastern corner of the plaza
stands the uninteresting Neoclassical
Catedral (unreliable opening hours,
officially Mon-Fri 9.30am-noon &
1-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-noon), built in
the same decade as the Cabildo. It's not
safe for tourists to walk in the slums that
lead from this plaza down to the bay.
A few blocks away, the Casa de la
Independencia (14 de Mayo esq.
Presidente Franco; Mon-Fri 7am-6pm,
Sat 8am-1pm; free; T 021 493 918,
W casadelaindependencia.org.py),
8
Other museums in the centre
Five blocks east along Eligio Ayala from
the Plaza Uruguaya is the modest Museo
de Bellas Artes (Eligio Ayala 1345, at
Curupayty; Tues-Fri 7am-6pm, Sat &
Sun 8am-2pm; free; T 021 211 578),
primarily displaying artworks collected
by Paraguayan intellectual Juan Silviano
Godoy (1850-1926), including some
European art, but the strong selection
of national art evoking a bygone Paraguay
is the real draw.
A little further out of the centre, in
an unassuming terraced house, sits the
former torture house of the Stroessner
dictatorship, now housing the moving
Museo de las Memorias: Dictadura y
Derechos Humanos (Chile 1066 between
Manduvirá and Jejuí; Mon-Fri 9am-4pm;
free; T 021 493 873). he museum's
displays are based on the “terror archives”
discovered in 1992 detailing the human
rights abuses carried out under the 35-year
dictatorship. You'll see the cells where up
to a hundred people at a time were kept,
as well as a bath tub used for water torture
and other gruesome implements used by
the regime.
 
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