Filadelfia

The hub of the Mennonite colonies in the Central Chaco, with a German-speaking community, a pioneer museum, and Chaco War fort sites. It is also the base for wildlife trips into the dry Chaco.

Filadelfia is the capital of Boquerón Department in western Paraguay. It lies in the Central Chaco, about 470 km northwest of the capital Asunción, and is reached via Route 9, the Trans-Chaco Highway. The town is the center of the Fernheim Mennonite Colony. Around 1930, a group of German-speaking Mennonite emigrants who had fled the Soviet Union founded colonies in this dry wilderness. Together with the neighboring Menno Colony (center Loma Plata, founded 1927) and Neuland Colony (center New Halbstadt, founded 1947), they turned the Chaco into Paraguay's most important dairy and cattle-ranching region. Today the town has wide, tidy streets, German and Low German are widely spoken, and cooperatives run supermarkets, dairy plants, and banks alongside the Indigenous communities.

There are three main attractions. First, Mennonite history: visit the Jacob Unger Museum and the migration museums in Loma Plata and Neuland, and sample cheese and ice cream from the cooperatives. Second, the sites of the Chaco War (1932–1935): Fortín Boquerón, Fortín Toledo, and Isla Poí. Third, Chaco nature: the Gran Chaco Interpretation Center, the Taguá Project to protect the critically endangered Chacoan peccary, and Capitán Lake, where flamingos and waterbirds can be seen in the dry season.

The climate is hot and dry. Summers (November–March) often exceed 40°C, while May–September is cooler and the best time to visit. After rain, dirt roads become muddy and hard to drive.

Getting there: Long-distance buses run from Asunción to Filadelfia in about 7–8 hours. The sights are spread out, so most require a rental car or a driver arranged through your hotel. Plan to stay 2–3 days.

Note: On Sundays nearly all shops close, and the midday break is long. In the wilderness, carry plenty of water and use sunscreen and insect repellent.

Top sights

• Jakob Unger Museum – A museum housed in the 1930s colony administration building, telling the story of the Mennonite settlers who opened up the Chaco, with spec…
• Fortín Boquerón – The battlefield of the first major battle of the 1932 Chaco War, with preserved trenches, command posts, a water source and soldiers' grave…
• Avenida Hindenburg & Fernheim Cooperative – Filadelfia's main street, with neat German-style streetscapes, a Fernheim cooperative supermarket and a dairy shop, offering a glimpse of d…
• Centro de Artesanías del Chaco – A small centre selling handicrafts from the Chaco's Indigenous peoples, with wood carvings and weaving from the Nivaclé, Enlhet and other g…
• Centro de Interpretación del Gran Chaco Americano – A modern exhibition centre on the southern outskirts of Filadelfia, presenting the ecology, Indigenous peoples and migration history of the…
• Loma Plata Mennonite Museum – An open-air museum in Loma Plata, the centre of the Menno Colony, preserving the log houses and farm tools of the first settlers who arrive…
• Neuland Colony (Neu-Halbstadt) – A Mennonite colony founded after World War II, whose central town of Neu-Halbstadt has a history museum and a German-style small-town look.
• Proyecto Taguá & Fortín Toledo – A breeding centre for the critically endangered Chacoan peccary, next to the ruins of Toledo Fort from the Chaco War and a small museum.
• Laguna Capitán – A saline lake reserve in central Chaco where flamingos, black-necked swans and large numbers of migratory waterbirds gather in the dry seas…
• Fortín Isla Poí – The former rear base and field hospital of Paraguayan forces during the Chaco War, now with a small memorial, cemetery and museum.

Where to eat

• Girasol Resto Grill – Filadelfia's best-known family grill, run for over thirty years, with lunch and dinner buffets built around Chaco beef.
• Hotel Florida Restaurant – Restaurant of a long-standing hotel in Filadelfia, serving local and German dishes, with an air-conditioned dining room…