Día de la Fundación de Asunción in Paraguay
Asuncion, capital of the Republic of Paraguay, was founded on August 15, 1537, date that marked the feast of Our Lady Saint Mary of the Assumption, in the bay formed by the river Paraguay, which now bears his name.
Its founder was the Spanish captain Juan de Zalazar de Espinoza, who had arrived with the expedition of Don Pedro de Mendoza. Unfortunately a fire in 1543, which destroyed three-quarters of the city, burned the Archives building, disappearing with the fire the Founding Act.
With the passage of time were formed the first settlements to the Spanish and indigenous areas, emerging in this way the so-called “young men of the earth”, a mix between Spanish and Guarani.
Called “Mother of Cities”, as that’s where many expeditions departed to found new cities in the east, Ontiveros, the Holy Spirit Villa Rica, Ciudad Real and Santiago de Xerez, in the west, Santa Cruz and New Assumption; along the coast, Corrientes, Santa Fe and the second foundation of Buenos Aires carried out in 1580.
Over the years, was also the place where brewing the country’s independence, Dr. Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia was who took care of the organization and planning of the city for the independent stage.
During the rule of Don Carlos Antonio Lopez and his son Francisco Solano, Asuncion became a modern city, thanks to the countless works and buildings and many of which can be appreciated today, despite the damage suffered during the great war from 1864 to 1870, the end of the war began a process of reconstruction.
The city grew to become the largest urban center in the country, developing further the social, political, economic, cultural. From 1932 to 1935 the city by the needs imposed by the “Chaco War”, many of its buildings became hospitals and barracks.
Since then the city began to spread, and today there have almost one million inhabitants. From its gentle hills emerge tall and modern buildings that make clear the dynamism of the city and its inhabitants, Assumption is now a great city that has lost its colonial, with its own particular characteristics
Effective April 1, 1849, numerous changes took Asuncion including the names of its historic streets and avenues were silent witnesses to everything that happened around the city of the Heart of America.
The streets Palma, star, Oliva, May 14, National Independence Paraguarí Tacuarí and The Independent Paraguay are the only ones still retain their original names.