This section is from "The American Cyclopaedia", by George Ripley And Charles A. Dana. Also available from Amazon: The New American Cyclopędia. 16 volumes complete..
Nuestra Senora De La Asuncion, Or Assumption Asuncion, the capital of the republic of Paraguay, on the E. bank of the river Paraguay, in lat. 25° 16' S., lon. 57° 42'W., 650 m. N. of Buenos Ayres; pop. in 1857, including suburbs, 48,000. It was founded in 1536 by Juan de Ayolas, and until 1620 was the capital of all the Spanish possessions on the Rio de la Plata. The streets are regularly laid out, but unpaved, and only a few of them have narrow flagged sidewalks. The dwellings are mostly of a single story, the better class built of adobes, with tiled roofs and projecting eaves. In building the ordinary houses, posts are driven into the ground to support the beams and rafters, then strips of bamboo are placed transversely, and the whole chinked and plastered with mud. The finest public building is the cathedral, rebuilt in 1842-'5. There are two other churches, in one of which the dictator Francia was buried, but one night his monument was destroyed, and his bones removed, no one knows whither. The cabildo or city hall, in which the congress meets, is a respectable structure; the government palace is a building of one story with a double front and portico. There is a stone quay bordering the river, upon which stand the arsenal and some workshops, mainly for ship building.
The principal suburbs are La Recoleta and Lam-bar6, where are the cemeteries; but until recently the dead were buried in the churches. The climate is healthy, although in summer the thermometer frequently rises above 100°. In the neighborhood are many pleasant residences. Asuncion is connected by railway with Villa Rica, about 145 m. distant, and is favorably situated for commerce with the interior and upon the river. The population has, like that of all Paraguay, suffered much diminution in consequence of the war of 1865-'9 with Brazil, the Argentine Confederation, and Uruguay, shortly before the close of which the allied forces took possession of the city.
Asuncion.
 
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