Ciudad del Este (Spanish for City of the East) is nowadays one of Paraguay’s most popular attractions. This is due to the fact that part of the beautiful Iguaçu Waterfall are located here, as it happens in Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil and Puerto Iguaçu in Argentina.

According to historic accounts, the falls were first discovered in 1541 by Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and Guarani natives called them “Iguaçu” which means “Big water”.

Finally, these stunningly beautiful falls were designated UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Nowadays, the responsibility of preserving and protecting them is shared between Brazil and Argentina.

This City of the East is also the country’s second most important one and the world’s third one in terms of international trade.

It was founded in 1957 as the capital city of Alto Parana department and for a long time is was known as President Stroessner City. Nowadays, one hundred and sixty five thousand people live here.

Why shopping city? The answer is easy. This is an area with a high level of commercial activity and one of Latin America’s busiest cities. A wide range of products at attractive prices can be found here.

It is impossible not to feel tempted to buy something more than what you had planned, from perfumes to electric appliances and from alcoholic drinks to the newest electronics. But be careful, bootlegs and copies can be found here as well.