Areguá () is the capital of

Central Department Central () is a department in Paraguay. The capital is Areguá. With 2,243,792 inhabitants, it is the most populated and the smallest of the 17 departments of Paraguay. Boundaries *North: the departments of Cordillera and Presidente Hayes *W ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, located from the capital,

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

. The city lies between Ypacaraí Lake to the east and hills to the west. Areguá is known for its

colonial architecture Colonial architecture is an architectural style from a mother country that has been incorporated into the buildings of settlements or colonies in distant locations. Colonists frequently built settlements that synthesized the architecture of their ...

and historic cobblestone streets. Areguá is known as the "City of Strawberries" due to its strawberry farms.

Toponymy

Areguá takes its name from its indigenous inhabitants, the Mbyá Guaraní, who inhabited the area before Spanish colonization. The local group were the ''Areguá'' ("those from above") referring to the area's high altitude.

History

Areguá was founded by

Domingo Martínez de Irala Domingo Martínez de Irala (; c. 1509 Bergara, Gipuzkoa – c. 1556 Asunción, Paraguay) was a Spanish Basque people, Basque conquistador. He headed for America in 1535 enrolled in the expedition of Pedro de Mendoza and participated in the foundi ...

in 1538. Early settlers, numbering about 200, lived close to the church. They were

Mercedarian The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order es ...

s who arrived with the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

to raise cattle. African slaves were put to work on these farms. By the end of the 19th century, Areguá had become a tourist destination to which many writers, artists and intellectuals from nearby areas retreated in the summer.

Climate

Areguá's climate is

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

. Maximum summer temperatures reach 40 °C. Average winter temperatures are 0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1377 mm distributed throughout the year.

Demography

Areguá's population is about 67,847. Of these residents, 33,870 are female and 33,977 are male.

Economy

Areguá's economy is based on strawberry farming. The town is also known for its pottery, which is an emergent industry in the region.

Places of interest

Areguá has an historic area centred on ''Avenida del Lago'' (Lake Avenue) which runs from a hilltop church to the Ypacaraí Lake. In 1997, the Paraguayan parliament declared it a "National Heritage Area". "Isla Valle", the local ecological organization, regulates fishing in the lake. Another attraction is the Centro Artesanal de la Cuenca. At the Center, craftsmen from the region display locally made pottery and crafts. Aregua also has art galleries, including Guggiari Arte, Luis Cogliolo Galería de Arte, Paseo La Candelaria, Areguá pesebres, El Cántaro, and Museo las Margaritas. The Koi and Chorori hills are a geologic attraction. Koi Hill is known for its formations of hexagonal sandstone.Eckel E. B. and Milton C
''Geological and Mineral Resources of Paraguay''
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1959 p. 34 The formations are a protected heritage site and the hill was declared a "Natural Monumente" in 1993.

Famous people

The Paraguayan writer

Gabriel Casaccia Gabriel Casaccia Bibolini (April 20, 1907 – November 24, 1980) was a Paraguayan novelist. He is considered the father of modern Paraguayan literature. Augusto Roa Bastos, another notable Paraguayan novelist, is quoted as saying “Gabriel ...

was born in Areguá.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aregua Populated places in the Central Department