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Trip to Ñeembucú -Rich with History (Part 2)

This is part two of our trip to Ñeembucú.  Since we are fascinated by history (Norberto's masters is in History and Intercultural studies) we took the opportunity to visit four different museums in this historical part of the country, where the bulk of the Triple Alliance War was fought and where Jesuit ruins are preserved.
These are the Humaitá ruins.  This Catholic church was bombed for six months during the Triple Alliance War because it was thought to have held Paraguay's weapons.
From inside the ruins you can see the beautiful Paraguay river. 

 This is in front of the museum of Isla Umbu, where General Lopez had his military base.
 A new monument is being inaugurated for Paraguay's bicentennial on May 14-15 in Paso de Patria.  Along with the battle scene of the Triple Alliance War are General Mariscal Fransisco Lopez's famous words "Defeat or Die"
 This is at the war museum of Paso de Patria.  We spent two hours in this tiny museum reading about the war stories of Paraguay's heroes.  The director of the museum actively visits battle sights to scour for relics with his metal detector.  He has practically found all the museum pieces himself!
 Being the adventure thrill-seekers that we are, we ventured off the beaten path to the battlesight of Tuyutí Paraguay's offensive attack against the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay).  Paraguay was ultimately defeated by the three most powerful South American nations, and sadly lost 60-70% of its population.
(Scene of the Battle of Tuyutí)

Although armed with only a spoon, knife and screwdriver, we started playing in the dirt a bit and much to our surprise, we actually dug up some war relics dating from 1864-1870!

These are our treasures:  two belt buckles, a metal holder that goes on a jacket, a grenade top, a partial ring for a bridle and everyone's favorite treasure, an intact perfume bottle.  It has a figure of what appears to be the queen of England on the bottom.  Not bad, aye? 

Stay tuned for Part 3 where we quit our day jobs and become full-time treasure archaeologists.
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Comments

  1. ChristieApril 30, 2011 at 3:07 PM

    So cool!!! You've got me hankering for a roadtrip now... :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 20, 2011 at 8:44 AM

    Sounds like fun! I can't believe that your "treasures" aren't rusted after being in the ground for 140 years!

    ReplyDelete

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