Concepción (Paraguay)

The massive white statue dominates the city main avenue, Avenida Agustín Fernando de Pinedo, this 24-metre high monument is called the Monumento a la Madre or Monumento a la Virgen, and was erected in 2002. You can climb a few stairs to a lookout platform at the feet of the virgin's statue to enjoy a city view. At night the cream-colored statue is nicely illuminated. The monument is next to the Salesian high school and the San José church.

Also worth visiting.

Opened in 1973 in the central promenade of the avenue it is an exhibition of old tractors, train cars, old vehicles, wagons and mill machinery that were part of the Concepción history.

The cathedral is a tall and striking building in yellow and white, not old but classical in style and with clean, elegant lines. Its construction began in 1960 after the collapse of a large part of the old church and the demolition of what remained of it. The works concluded in 1968 and in December of that year the inauguration of the new church took place. Inside you can find a holy water font carved in pink marble. The wooded altarpiece depicting the empty tomb with angels and soldiers is the work of Concepción-born artist Carlos Colombino, who specialises in wood creations. Other works of art inside the cathedral include a painting of the Virgin of Chestokowa, a gift of Pope John Paul II to the Diocese of Concepción.

Right next to the Cathedral with a collection of religious objects like silverware used in the religious cult, many of such pieces go back to the Hispanic colonial period of Paraguay and others correspond to the period of great economic boom of the city. There are also ancient religious vestments, old documents, objects of personal use of the priests, portraits, watercolors and views of the different churches. Around 700 objects of great religious and artistic value.

Very pleasant. It has a beautiful grove that offers good shade, as well as benches to sit in. In the center of the plaza there is a monument dedicated to the heroes of Paraguay. It is surrounded by beautiful buildings such as the Obispado (Diocese) and the Club Social Concepción.

A beautiful well preserved historical museum located in a 19th-century building that was once the barracks and the command post for Mariscal Lopez's army, beautifully restored, the building was built during the colonial era. The museum's collection is mostly made up of Triple Alliance War relics including the chassis and wheels of the wagon that once belonged to Madame Lynch and it transported her piano on the great retreat to the north during the final stage of the war in 1869-70. Among the objects on display there are sabres, military uniforms and trumpets, and some recovered unexploded grenades from the Chaco War battlegrounds. Some paintings from Russian Vladimir Kompanietz are on display. There are also indigenous artefacts and utensils, feather headdresses, as well as some bows and arrows.

In the former Teatro Municipal, an elegant yellow and grey building one block to the east of the Municipalidad. The museum's highlight is a series of paintings depicting many of the architectural gems of Concepcion's heyday, a number of which are still recognizable today. There is also a painting depicting the old port of Concepción from 1890. In the five rooms of the museum there are miscelaneous old objects of the city historical periods. Some interesting old objects include pre-Columbian indigenous pots, a grand piano and an old printing press. Also in the same building is the City Public Library. You can request the museum's Director if he could provide for a guided walking tour of Concepción historic building if his schedule permits.