Asunción

Timeline

1. 1537Confluence of the Paraguay and Pil rivers · Río de la Plata basinAfter Salazar's expedition operated among indigenous peoples such as the Ayoreo, the site for Asunción was chosen at the river confluence on the Feast of the Assumption, named in commemoration of the Assumption of Mary.
2. 1537–1540Asunción · ParaguayIn the years following its founding, Asunción built simple defenses, churches, and dock facilities, attracting colonists and missionaries, and became the earliest lasting Spanish settlement in the Paraguay River basin.
3. 1540Asunción · Governorate of the Río de la PlataBy around 1540, Asunción had been established as a logistical and administrative base for advancing into the Chaco and the eastern Paraguayan interior, linking upstream expeditions with downstream colonial routes to posts such as Buenos Aires.