Curuguaty

Curuguaty was founded on the banks of its namesake river on 15 May 1712. The long original dedication honoured Saint Isidore the Labourer and the Catholic Monarchs, while the Guaraní name Curuguaty means the place of the curugua, a plant common in the surrounding country. The settlement therefore began with a clear relationship to river, soil, and vegetation rather than as an abstract administrative centre. The town sits in Canindeyú, beside the wooded country around the Mbaracayú Mountains. These hills average about 400 metres above sea level, and the department retains part of the biodiversity associated with the Atlantic Forest. Rainfall is frequent and abundant; summer can reach 39°C, winter can fall to 0°C, and the departmental average is around 21°C. Such conditions support the varied flora of a warm, humid inland district. Curuguaty’s political history repeatedly brought wider struggles into a small river town. José Gervasio Artigas, the defeated leader associated with Uruguay’s independence, was sent to live at Curuguaty in exile after he crossed into Paraguay in 1820, under the government of Dr. Francia. A small town formed by the curugua and its river thus sheltered a foreign exile who had once led armies.