Travel Guide Itá

Itá, founded in 1539, is nicknamed the "City of Jugs and Honey" or the "Capital of Ceramics". During the time of the Franciscan missions, women dedicated themselves to making clay jugs and men cultivated sugar cane. You will see cane honey sellers on the road, just before arriving in town. Itá is famous for its ceramics, with an internationally renowned artist, Rosa Brítez (1941-2017), the "Ceramista de América", a title obtained in the United States in 1989. Marciana Rojas (1929-2018) is another artist who made her name with her Gallinetas Picha'i, or Gallinetas de la Suerte ("little hens of luck"), which you will see in the country's craft shops, and of course at the CAPICI, itá's craft and small industries centre, which offers ceramics, hammocks, baskets, rag dolls... Open on weekdays from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, it is located at the entrance of the town (Ruta 1 c/ Cerro Corá - +595 224 632 057). Itá is 37 km from Asunción, on Ruta 1, not far from Itauguá and Yaguarón. Itá" buses (line 159) are frequent from the terminal, but you can take any bus to Yaguarón or Paraguarí. In the centre, three cuadras south of Ruta 1, there is the covered market and a legendary lagoon that would never dry up, and where a golden bell would have been plunged during the War of the Triple Alliance. Itá's patron saint's day, in honour of San Blas (Saint Blaise), begins 9 days before February 3rd.