Filadelfia (República del Paraguay)

Filadelfia is the capital of Boquerón Department in the Gran Chaco of western Paraguay. It is the centre of the Fernheim Colony It is about a 5 hour drive from the capital of Asunción. Filadelfia was founded in 1930 by Russian Mennonites who fled from the Soviet Union. Filadelfia lay near the front of the Chaco War, but was little affected. It became divided in the Second World War, with some of the originally German colonists supporting the Nazis and later being expelled.

Today the town is home to a museum, a library, a radio station and a hospital. The colony's villages lie around Filadelfia, as do several native reserves, home to much of the area's native population, from the Chulupí, Lengua, Toba-Pilaga, Sanapaná and Ayoreo groups. A modern supermarket is located in the centre of the town, which is the last place to get groceries before heading farther out into the Chaco. Most of the town's potable water supply is drawn from underground cisterns, being replenished by intermittent rainfall; the underground water is too salty to drink. A small commemorative park known as Parque Trebol lies about 5 km (3 mi) to the east of town. It now serves as a place for visitors to camp for the night.


The newly asphalted highway from Asunción continues past Filadelfia for another 70 km (40 mi) and runs out at the military checkpoint Mariscal Estigarribia. From this point onwards, the road to the border town fort General Eugenio A. Garay with Bolivia is almost impassable.

A 10 megawatt wood-fired power station, originally imported from Germany during the second world war, provides electrical power to much of the isolated region. Local Indians collect old felled timber to keep it running.