Atyra

Atyrá works leather: saddles, harness, belts, bags, boots and decorative work made in family workshops through the town using traditional tooling and stitching, sold from the shops along the main street, and the trade has been the town's economy for generations. Its other reputation, which is what most Paraguayans mention first, is cleanliness: a municipal campaign begun in the 1990s under a single-term mayor combined waste separation, planting, painting and civic pressure into a programme that produced a visibly tidier town than anywhere else in the country and won national recognition. The result is a small Cordillera town with swept streets, planted verges and a leather-working economy.

History

Governor Domingo Martínez de Irala founded the town in 1539 under the shade of three Yvapovó plants, at a place the local people used for meetings, which gave the name Atyhá, later Atyrá. In 1580 Franciscan missionaries led by Alonso de San Buenaventura and Luis de Bolaños made the religious foundation of Altos, Atyrá, Tobatí and Yaguarón (Wikipedia, Atyrá).

What's there

• Leather workshops - the saddlery and craft made through the town.
• The main street shops - the leather goods sold at source.
• The clean streets - the result of the long-running municipal campaign.
• The Cordillera setting - the hill country around the town.

When to go

April to October in the cooler months; weekdays are when the workshops are working. The town is quiet and small in any season and half a day covers it.

Practical notes

The town has no conventional sights beyond the workshops and the streets themselves. Workshop visits are informal. Prices are negotiated. Facilities are limited.

Nearby

Caacupe lies east; Tobati is northeast.