Encarnación - the city is located on the border with Argentina

Encarnación the capital of the Department of Itapúa in Paraguay is located on the border with Argentina and has about 77,100 inhabitants.

The "Pearl of the South"! This is how the city is called because of its mild climate. It was founded on March 25, 1615 by the Jesuit priest Roque González de Santa Cruz on the banks of the Río Paraná under the name Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación de Itapúa.

It was given its present name in 1843 on the instructions of Consuls Carlos Antonio López and Mariano Roque Alonso.
The city is divided into two areas, the higher financial center of the modern city, and the old town in the immediate vicinity of the Río Paraná.
Encarnación is also the birthplace of the former dictator of Paraguay, Alfredo Stroessner.

The former Jesuit missions of La Santisima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesus de Tavarangue, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993 and is located near the city of Encarnación. The place gained additional importance in 1854 during the construction of the railroad of Central Paraguay.