Seventeen hectares of tree-lined lanes, chapels, sculptures and mausoleums ranging from neoclassical to modernist. Presidents, war heroes, writers and musicians rest here, alongside sections for the Italian, Spanish, Jewish and international communities. Among the most visited graves are those of Elisa Alicia Lynch, partner of Marshal López, and writer Augusto Roa Bastos. Next to the cemetery, the 1860 Church of the Santísimo Sacramento de la Recoleta completes the ensemble. It's a quiet walk full of stories.

In 1729 the Recollect Franciscans founded the convent of Jesús María here, which gave the neighborhood its name. After the religious orders were suppressed in 1824, the site served as barracks and a parish. On October 23, 1842, under the consulate of Carlos Antonio López and Mariano Roque Alonso, it was designated Asunción's official cemetery — the country's first general public cemetery.