In the city of Encarnación, where Avenida Ucrania meets the country’s main highway, Ruta 1, stands a monument that many people pass by without even realizing that before them is a fragment of Ukrainian history, carried thousands of kilometers from home. It does not call attention to itself with bright colors or loud inscriptions, but if you stop and take a closer look, it becomes clear: this place holds memory.
The monument appeared in 1988, when Ukrainians around the world were marking the millennium of the event that changed their history — the Baptism of Rus’. It was then that Prince Volodymyr the Great made a choice that defined the spiritual path of an entire people. Alongside him in this story stands Princess Olha — a woman who embraced Christianity even before it became the religion of the state. Their faces are engraved on the monument in Encarnación, as if to remind us that even far from Ukraine, its roots never disappear.
This monument did not appear by chance. It was created by Ukrainians who settled in Paraguay in the 20th century, seeking a new life. They built homes, raised children, spoke a different language in the streets, yet within, they remained Ukrainian. That is why in 1988, together with the organization “Prosvita,” they decided to leave a mark that would speak for them — even decades later.
But the history of the monument has not been simple. Over time, it was dismantled due to major infrastructure works and effectively disappeared from the urban landscape. For more than ten years, it was absent from its place, as if history had been put on pause. And only in 2021, on a day of special significance for every Ukrainian — August 24 — was it returned. This was not just a reopening, but a restoration of memory. The ceremony was attended by the city’s mayor Sebastián Remesowski and Honorary Consul of Ukraine Andrés Trotsyuk, and in that moment, the monument once again became what it was meant to be: a bridge between countries.
If you look more closely, you can see more than just its form. In the silhouette of Ukraine, in the line of the Dnipro River, in the light that seems to cut through the concrete — there is something quiet, yet powerful. It is not pathos, but a calm confidence that culture lives not only where it was born.
This monument stands at the entrance to the Ka’aguy Rory district, but in truth, it stands on the boundary between two worlds — Ukrainian and Paraguayan. And perhaps that is why it matters so much. Because it is not about the past. It is about the fact that even far from home, one can remain oneself. Avenida Ucrania is a small reminder of home — one that needs no translation.
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Photo: from the open sources