Palacio de los López
Paraguay's seat of government beside the river, opened to guided tours on Saturdays.
President Carlos Antonio López ordered the palace in 1857 for his son and successor Francisco Solano López, as the public face of a state that was building railways, foundries and a telegraph. The design is credited to the English architect Alonso Taylor, who worked in Paraguay with the Italian engineer Alejandro Ravizza, and drew on Italian Renaissance and Palladian models. Work ran from 1857 to 1867 and was interrupted by the War of the Triple Alliance, which left the building unfinished when Asunción fell in 1869.
Occupying forces used it as a barracks and store, and it was completed and adapted at the end of the nineteenth century. It has served since 1894 as the seat of the presidency of the republic. The long two-storey front with its arcades, corner towers and central cupola faces the bay of Asunción and is floodlit at night. A guided route opened by the state takes visitors through the ceremonial staircase and the Independence, Mariscal and Libertad halls.
Highlights
- Arcaded river front with corner towers and central cupola
- Ceremonial staircase and the Independence and Libertad halls
- Begun in 1857 to designs by Alonso Taylor
- Floodlit facade seen from the Plaza de los Desaparecidos
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