Roaming South America

San Cosme y Damián town and Ruins

June 20, 2023

San Cosme y Damián (San Cosme), Paraguay, has a population of about 10,000. Cosme and Damiano were twin brothers, and both were doctors. They had been tortured and then burned alive, and they both survived, so they were beheaded in 300 AD by Diocletian. They were famous for their abilities as doctors and for giving selflessly to help others; the stories say the did not charge the sick for their services. So, the Jesuits in this area named the town after them.

The Jesuit Mission here in the town, photos in the photo album, was founded in 1632. The current location was set in 1718, after the Jesuits had to move their mission three previous times. In 1703, Father Buenaventura Suárez arrived at the mission. He was a native of Santa Fe (in what is now Argentina). He began working in astronomy with a telescope he and some of the natives built. They also built an astronomical quadrant and a stone sundial that, although basic as one could be (see photos in the photo album), it still gives exact measurements today. With them, they carried out research that made them known pretty much world-wide. In 1899, the mission church was destroyed by a fire but was fully restored in 1977. You can see the differences between it and the adjoining buildings which are all original. The church is used for Mass, and the school classrooms of the original mission had been used but time and wear from the weather has rendered them unsafe for use. All throughout the property you can see parts of the original architecture - columns and column heads (I don't remember what those are called), wood carvings, and even some furniture. There are still people working on restoration work of the buildings.

Economically, the town depends on agriculture and ranching, primarily cattle, with some income from fishing and tourism.

San Cosme has a warm temperate climate. The average daytime high of 26° C (79° F), and the nightly average low of 17° C (63° F). The city's elevation averages 77 meters (252 feet). The average yearly rainfall amounts to 1868 mm (73.5 inches) of rain.

So, my impressions: San Cosme is a very small town with no central business district. There are a few businesses along the highway that passes through town, and a few others scattered about town. There is a park and beach at the riverside and a pizzeria close to it, but it is only open on weekends. The town is a very pleasant place to visit, the people are very friendly, it's a pretty area, and it's very quiet. Now that I think about it, there is no ATM here. It's a good thing I took a bit of extra cash out before I left Encarnación.

My goal is to find a new place to live. So to reach that goal, I am traveling most of South America, visiting the countries of Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and Chile, passing through Argentina, visiting Paraguay, passing through a bit of Brazil, and finally visiting Uruguay. I have a list of towns, about 70 that meet these qualifications: Cities with average day temperatures of 22-28° C (72-83° F) and night temps of 14° C (57° F) and higher; and a population between 28,000-300,000. I analyzed climate and population data of around 700 towns in the countries mentioned above and then pulled out the ones that meet the previously mentioned criteria, which leaves about 70. My preference leans towards towns of less than 100,000 people.  And, now that I have visited more than 30 towns/cities, I've decided I will probably want an inland town. I love the beach and walking in the warm water, but getting sunburned is just too easy, even on a cloudy day. At least here in Ecuador. I've also decided that any town with more than 100,000 population will be too big. I've decided that any small town/city (less than around 80,000 population) that meets the temp specifications and has a supermarket and ATM is one worth considering to live in.

My goal is to visit the towns and discover which one calls out to me - "Chip, Chip, make your new home here, this is your new home town". That hasn't happened yet, but the towns listed below are very close to giving me that feeling. At any rate, I am not visiting tourist attractions or archeological sites, etc, those will have to wait for another trip through South America.

At this point in my journey, I had ten towns on my Top 10 list, but I narrowed it down to four:

• Tingo Maria, Perú
• Moyobamba, Perú
• Catamayo, Ecuador
• Puyo, Ecuador

During my travels in Ecuador I visited 32 towns/cities. In Perú, I visited 26 towns/cities; in Chile, only five towns; and in Argentina, I visited 15 towns. In Uruguay, I visited five towns, and in Brazil, three. So far, I have visited 16 cities in Paraguay.

Next up: Santa Rosa, Paraguay.