Yaguarón

Yaguarón is a small town south of Asunción with what is generally held to be the finest colonial building in Paraguay, a Franciscan church completed in 1772 whose plain whitewashed exterior gives no hint of the interior. Inside, every surface of the ceiling, walls, altars and pulpit is carved in wood and painted in red, blue and gold by Guaraní craftsmen, a whole baroque world made entirely without stone. The separate bell tower stands apart in the churchyard. The Doctor Francia museum in town covers the first dictator of independent Paraguay. The church alone is worth the detour, and the visit takes an hour.