Atyrá surprises with its tidy streets and its leatherwork: along the Paseo Peatonal Indio José pedestrian walk, local saddlers sell guampas (horn or wooden cups for tereré, Paraguay's iced herbal tea), leather-covered thermoses, belts, saddles and handbags. The church of San Francisco de Asís holds a Baroque altarpiece carved by Franciscans and Guaraní artisans, and the Complejo Marianela brings together colonial art and Indigenous pieces. Around town you'll find hills, streams like the Karumbey, with a waterfall of about four meters, and a network of more than twenty country inns.

Its name comes from the Guaraní atyha, 'meeting place'. Tradition credits Domingo Martínez de Irala with founding it on October 4, 1538, and from 1580 it was a Franciscan mission, the root of its craft tradition. The current church dates from 1928 and preserves 18th-century religious art. The pedestrian walk honors Indio José, the legendary carver of the Virgin of Caacupé.