Luque () is a city in Central Department of Paraguay, part of the Gran Asunción metropolitan area. Both 1635 and 1750 have been recorded as dates of its founding. It was temporarily the capital of Paraguay in 1868 during the Paraguayan War before relocation to San Estanislao. It is located at around . Luque is one of the most important cities in the country. The city counts as home of Paraguay's main international airport, Silvio Pettirossi International Airport and the Ñu Guasú Park, which is where the Paraguayan Olympic Committee is also located. The continental governing body of association football in South America,

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

, has its headquarters approximately 3 minutes from the Airport, consisting of the South American Football Museum and walking distance from the

Bourbon CONMEBOL Asunción Convention Hotel Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

. When it existed, ARPA – Aerolíneas Paraguayas had its headquarters in the ARPA Terminal on the grounds of the airport. It is a center of production of Guitars and

Paraguayan harp The Paraguayan harp is the national instrument of Paraguay, and similar instruments are used elsewhere in South America, particularly Venezuela. It is a diatonic harp with 32, 36, 38 or 40, 42 or 46 strings, made from tropical wood, pine and c ...

s as well as ''Filigranas'', gold and silver

filigree Filigree (also less commonly spelled ''filagree'', and formerly written ''filigrann'' or ''filigrene'') is a form of intricate metalwork used in jewellery and other small forms of metalwork. In jewellery, it is usually of gold and silver, ma ...

jewelry including the seven-band ring ''Carretón de Siete Ramales''. On 27 January 2016, Paraguayan Newspaper La Nación had reported that Carlos Echeverría Estigarribia, the elected intendent of the city of Luque, states his intention of wanting Luque to be one of the most important cities.

Toponymy

The name Luque is first mentioned in 1635, in an act of the Cabildo of Asunción when the colonial governor of the Governorate of Paraguay, Martín Ledesma de Valderrama, granted two leagues of land to a Spanish Captain named Miguel Antón de Luque in a place near Asunción known as ''las Salinas''. According to the act this was the place where Captain Antón de Luque had been working an

Encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

for more than twenty years. A century later, in 1743, another Miguel de Luque, a descendant of the first mentioned, made a donation by testament of a section of those lands to the Franciscans who built a chapel for the devotion of the

Virgin of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General Roma ...

in 1750 - 1755, and from that time the old name of Salinas was changed to Valle de Luque. In 1781, governor Pedro Melo de Portugal made the first administrative division of the Governorate of Paraguay into six towns and designated the district with the name Partido de Luque.

Geography

The city of Luque extends from

Ypacaraí Lake Ypacaraí Lake is a major body of water located in Paraguay, about east of the capital, Asunción. The lake lies in the western part of the Asunción-Sapucai-Villarrica graben, a tectonic depression from the Mesozoic Era, and drains to the no ...

to the western bank of the Paraguay River. Luque is located to the East of Asunción and borders the following cities: * To the North with

Mariano Roque Alonso Mariano Roque Alonso Romero (16 August 1792 Ybytimí – 7 August 1853) was President of the Provisional Junta of Paraguay from 9 February 1841 to 14 March 1841. On 14 March 1841, he established a government ruling jointly with Carlos Antonio L� ...

Limpio The city of Limpio (; formerly known as Tapúa) is located in the Central Department, Paraguay. It was founded on February 2, 1785, by the Friar Luís de Bolaños under the name of San José de los Campos Limpios de Tapúa. It was one of the fi ...

and Nueva Colombia * To the South with Fernando de la Mora and

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

* To the East with

Areguá Areguá () is the capital of Central Department in Paraguay, located from the capital, Asunción. The city lies between Ypacaraí Lake to the east and hills to the west. Areguá is known for its colonial architecture and historic cobblestone s ...

* To the West with Asunción * To the Southeast with

Capiatá Capiatá () is a city in Central Department, Paraguay. It is the only city in Central that borders seven cities: Aregua, Itaugua, Juan Augusto Saldívar, Luque, Ñemby, San Lorenzo and Ypane. It is the location of the Francisco López Milit ...

Demography

Luque is the third-most populated city of Paraguay, after the capital city and Ciudad del Este. It is the most populated city of the Central Department of Paraguay.

Gallery

File:Asunción - Edificio CSF.JPG,

Headquarters, in Luque, Paraguay File:Retablo papal.jpg, The main altarpiece made of maize,

calabaza Calabaza is the generic name in the Spanish language for any type of winter squash. Within an English-language context it specifically refers to what is also known as the West Indian pumpkin, a winter squash typically grown in the West Indies, t ...

and coconut, especially for the 2015 visit by Pope Francis to Paraguay, in Luque File:Monumento Cooperación Paraguay Korea 1 - panoramio.jpg, The Paraguay- South Korea Cooperation Monument, in Luque File:Hinchada Sportivo Luqueño.jpg, ''Chanchohooligans'', one of many Sportivo Luqueño's groups of fans File:Paraguayan Air Force.jpg, Paraguayan Air Force, in Luque File:Lapacho rosa en floración - panoramio.jpg, A '' Tajy'' at Ñu Guasú Park, Luque, Paraguay

Twin towns

Luque is twinned with: *

Ituzaingó, Buenos Aires Ituzaingó () is the capital of the Ituzaingó Partido in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, Argentina, west of Buenos Aires. Overview Ituzaingó has been the capital of the Ituzaingó Partido or municipality of Buenos Aires Provinc ...

, Argentina *

San Juan Bautista San Juan Bautista is the Spanish-language name of Saint John the Baptist. It may refer to: Places Bolivia *San Juan Bautista, Bolivia, Jesuit mission ruins near the village of San Juan de Taperas Chile *San Juan Bautista, Chile, Juan Fernández ...

, Paraguay * Luque, Spain

Notable people

* Ansoni Lemans *

José Luis Chilavert José Luis Félix Chilavert González (; born 27 July 1965) is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Sportivo Luqueño, Guaraní, San Lorenzo de Almagro, Real Zaragoza, Vélez Sarsfield, RC Strasbourg, Pe ...

Egni Eckert Egni Analia Almirón Eckert, simply known as Egni Eckert or Egny Eckert, is a beauty queen contestant from Paraguay who represented her country in the Miss World 2010 pageant held in Sanya, China, placing among the Top 25 finalists. Egni repres ...

Raúl Vicente Amarilla Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

Pablo César Aguilar Pablo César Aguilar Benítez (born 2 April 1987) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. From March to July 2017, Aguilar served a ten-match suspension after head-butting a referee. Club career Early career Aguil ...

Osvaldo Martínez Osvaldo David Martínez Arce (born 8 April 1986) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He is a naturalized Mexican citizen. Career Club Libertad Osvaldo Martínez began his career with Club Libertad in 2003, playin ...

* Hilarión Osorio

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Central Department Geography of Asunción