Tacumbú
Tacumbú is one of the barrios of Asunción and famous for the prison also referred to as "Tacumbú". The famous Tacumbú hill is also located in this neighbourhood. The majority of the streets of the city of Asunción and surrounding areas were cobbled with the rocks extracted from this hill. It is a working-class neighbourhood, located at only five minutes drive from Asuncion's downtown.
When it was built, Tacumbu prison was designed to hold just 800 prisoners - now more than 4,000 inmates are locked up behind its walls.
It first opened its doors in 1956 and its capacity was soon increased to hold 1,500 inmates. In 2020, it was home to 4231 inmates, with many sleeping outside on the ground. There are 35 guards for all inmates, making violence like fighting, stabbings, murders and riots common within the prison.
