Basilica of Our Lady of Caacupé
Basílica de Caacupé
Paraguay's most important Catholic pilgrimage site. Around December 8, hundreds of thousands of believers walk here to venerate the 'Blue Virgin'.
Caacupé lies in the Cordillera hills about 54 kilometers east of Asunción and is Paraguay's religious capital. The basilica housing the Virgen de los Milagros (Our Lady of Miracles, popularly known as the Blue Virgin) was completed in 1980. Its imposing brick-and-stone dome can hold several thousand people, and Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass here in 1988. Around the feast day of the Virgin on December 8 each year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walk here from Asunción and elsewhere, and the route is lit up along the way. At other times you can climb to the observation deck at the top of the church and try chipa (cheese bread) in the square. It can be combined with San Bernardino and Areguá into a one-day loop around the Cordillera lakes.
Opening hours
About 06:00–20:00
Nearby sights
- Lake Ypacaraí (San Bernardino)
- Itauguá
- Church of San Buenaventura, Yaguarón
- Areguá
- Museo del Barro
- Botanical Garden and Zoo of Asunción
- Recoleta Cemetery (Asunción)
- Mercado 4