San Roque Gonzalez de Santa Cruz

San Roque González de Santa Cruz is a town in Paraguarí department, about 97 km from Asunción via Route PY01, and covers a district of about 293 km², mostly rural. It is one of the oldest settlements in Paraguay: founded on November 15, 1538 by governor Domingo Martínez de Irala as the indigenous settlement of Tavapy, just a year after the founding of Asunción — earning it a reputation locally as an early "cradle" of settlement in the region. The town was later renamed for Roque González de Santa Cruz, a Jesuit missionary and the first Paraguayan-born Catholic saint, canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988. As of the 2022 census, the district's population was about 9,637. The climate is subtropical; best visited May–September.

By Plane

Silvio Pettirossi International Airport (ASU), near Asunción, is the nearest airport.

By Train

No passenger rail.

By Car / Road

San Roque González de Santa Cruz is reached via Route PY01, about 97 km from Asunción.

Walkable.

• Plaza and church – The main square with a church named after the saint, marking one of Paraguay's oldest settlement sites.

• La Colmena (south) – Japanese colony.
• Quyquyhó (south) – Rural settlement.
• Paraguarí (southwest) – Department capital.