Caacupé

Caacupé
City

Flag

Coat of arms
Caacupé

Location in Paraguay

Coordinates: 25°23′10″S 57°08′27″W / 25.38611°S 57.14083°W / -25.38611; -57.14083
Country  Paraguay
Department Cordillera
Government
  Mayor Diego Armando Riveros Gonzalez
Area
  Total 145 km2 (56 sq mi)
Population (2002)
  Total 42,127
  Density 290/km2 (750/sq mi)
Time zone AST (UTC-04)
  Summer (DST) ADT (UTC-03)
Postal code 3000

Caacupé (Guarani: Ka'akupe) is a city and district in Paraguay. It is the capital of the department of Cordillera.

The town was founded in 1770 by Carlos Murphy, a grenadier in the service of King Charles III of Spain, although a first settlement existed here from the 17th century.

The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Caacupé. Caacupé is best known as the site of the Virgin of Caacupé, which is housed in the cathedral. A major religious festival is held annually on 8 December in honour of the statuette "Our Lady of the Miracles". This statuette, carved in the 16th century by a devout convert, was miraculously saved from a great flood, and numerous miracles are ascribed to it. An enormous basilica stands in the centre of the town, and here 300,000 of the faithful make their way, in a pilgrimage, for the festival.

During the rest of the year Caacupé is a quiet provincial town. It has a park with amusements.

Photogallery

References

    External list



    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.