Asunción was founded in 1537 and is one of the oldest cities of South America. The city is pleasant to wander around in, while admiring its colonial architecture or enjoying one of the many green parks. Asunción is also Paraguay's cultural centre, with a number of informative and captivating cultural museums.
Cultural Museum "Museo de Barro" – Centro de Artes Visuales
The contemporary building has several exhibition halls as well as a souvenir/bookshop [books in English and Spanish]. The exhibits are displayed in well-lit showcases and extensive information is provided [in Spanish]. One part of this cultural museum contains permanent exhibitions, focusing on indigenous lifestyles and pre-Colombian art. The other side of the museum houses temporary exhibitions – from photography to plastic art, from historical artifacts to contemporary paintings.
Museo del Barro is situated in Calle Grabadores del Cabichui [tel: 021-607996], and is open from Wednesday-Saturday 3.30pm-8pm. Entrance fee: free on Wednesday and Friday, the other days 8000/4000 guaraní [adults/ kids/students].
Cultural Museum El Cabildo – Centro Cultural de la Republica
The pink Cabildo building is located along Asunción's Plaza Independencia and was used as the Parliament building until 2004. Nowadays it houses a cultural centre, showcasing permanent exhibitions concentrating on Paraguayan musicians and famous figures in the field of literature, theater and dance.
Temporary exhibitions may include historical paintings, contemporary art – for example by the famous Paraguayan plastic artist Justo Pastor Mellado – or may show artifacts on loan through an exchange with El Museo Guido Boggiani in the neighboring town of San Lorenzo.
The Centre is open daily from 10.30am-sunset and charges no entrance fee [tel 021-443094].
Museo Guido Boggiani – an Anthropological, Archaeological and Ethnographical Museum
San Lorenzo [30 kilometres from Asunción] houses an excellent, private museum which is dedicated to the Italian explorer and ethnographer Guido Boggiani – the first to take a serious interest in the Indian communities of the Chaco [19th century].
The museum displays a vast array of Indian feather art, bags made of vegetable fibres, garments, musical instruments and splendid black and white photographs from Guido Boggiani's collection. Large panels explain the diversity and location of the different tribal groups, spread out across Paraguay.
This cultural museum is located at Coronel Bogado 888 [tel: 021-584-717] and open daily from 9am-6pm, just ring the doorbell to enter. There is no entrance fee, but a donation or a purchase at the adjacent souvenir shop is appreciated.
Museo Etnográfico Dr. Andrés Barbero
Since 1956 El Museo Etnográfico Dr. Andrés Barbero has been dedicated to the display and publication of the scientific findings by three persons who dedicated their time and love to the Indian tribes of Paraguay: Dr. Andrés Barbero, Dr. Max Schmidt and Dra. Branislava Susnik.
Publications can be found in the well-stocked library [Spanish and German books] and the first floor shows an impressive collection of indigenous art, an ancient canoe, religious artifacts and an impressive collection of urnas funerarias. These large ceramic vases were used for the storage of food, as well as of the bones of the deceased. Since the Guaranís were a nomadic tribe, they took the bones of their deceased with them when they moved to new grounds.
The museum is located on España 217, open from Monday to Friday from 8am-5pm and charges no entrance fee.
Asunción's Outdoor Museum of Murals
Since 2007 three international meetings of plastic sculptors have been held in Asunción, resulting in an outdoor museum of murals throughout the centre of the city. This is where they are located:
- Several murals are in the park across the Palacio Legislativo on Mcal Franciscos S. Lopez [near the Presidential Palace].
- Two murals are on the corner of Mcal Estigarribia and Tacuary.
- A wall of murals are at Plaza de Derecho Humanos on España, just before the road Mcal Franciscos S. Lopez.
More murals in the vicinity can be found in the Resistencia, Argentina's City of Sculptures, and Corrientes, Argentina's City of Murals.
How to visit the museums of Asunción
Paraguay is a landlocked country and can only be reached by air or land:
- By air. Silvia Pettirossi International Airport [ASU] has direct flight connections to cities worldwide. A bus and taxi service connects the airport with Asunción; the airport also has car rental agencies.
- By land. Most visitors come by bus or car from Argentina [border crossing Asunción] or Brazil [border crossing Ciudad del Este].
In downtown Asunción you'll find the majority of the hotels, where you can arrange transport to the museums, which are spread out over the city. The cheapest but time consuming option is the local bus. More expensive but quicker are taxis or a rented car. The Tourist Information Office on Rua Mariscal Estigarribia has a list with car rental agencies.
A rented car will also facilitate visits to other cultural attractions in Paraguay, such as the Jesuit missions of Trinidad and Jesús in South Paraguay and the Franciscan churches around Asunción.
Karin-Marijke Vis - Karin-Marijke Vis is a bilingual writer (Dutch-English) who has been traveling in Asia and South America since 2003.
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