Sights and landmarks in Filadelfia

Sights and landmarks in Filadelfia

1. See

   Centro Chaqueño para la Conservación e Investigación

   Chaco Research and Conservation Center

   A research center dedicated to the conservation of the peccary (known locally as taguá). You can see three different species of peccary up close. There is a guest house with dorm rooms and kitchen for visitors who want to stay for two or more days (booking is required). The center's location is ideal for nature enthusiasts and those who want to venture into the Chaco. You need to bring all your supplies with you as the nearest store is in Filadelfia. Just to the left of the center is Fortín Toledo, a historic site from the Chaco War, which is worth visiting.

2. See

   Fortín Toledo

   A historic site from the Chaco War (1932-35) where one of the major battles of the conflict took place between 26 February and 10 March 1933. Two cemeteries, one Paraguayan and one Bolivian, honor the over 1000 soldiers from both sides who died in combat during the battle.

3. See

   Jakob Unger Museum

   A very good museum spread over two buildings. The oldest building was built in 1933/34, shortly after the founding of the colony, and is one of the few remaining original administrative houses of the city and it was used for civil and religious ceremonies. It was converted into a museum in 1980 and named after Jakob Unger, a Mennonite specimen collector, who was the first of the pioneers to perform a scientific study of the fauna of the Chaco from 1950 to 1975. The first building is devoted to Mennonite history, and there are many artifacts from the original colonists including the printing press for the newspaper Mennoblatt, which is still published today. There is also a collection of relics from the Chaco War. Out front stands a large saw, the first machine in the community saw mill. In the second building is the natural history section, which houses an impressive collection of stuffed animals from the Chaco, including a jaguar, armadillo, coatí, puma, anteater, wolf, tapir, tree sloth, skunk and a boa constrictor. There are also 210 out of 250 bird species found in the area, and a large section devoted to insects. Items are well-labeled, so visiting the museum is an excellent way to learn about the region's fauna. The back room is dedicated to the various indigenous groups the predated the Mennonite's arrival to the Chaco and include utilitarian objects, textiles, feathered headdresses, handicrafts, weapons, and ceramics. The museum has a pleasant garden, the Plaza de los Recuerdos, with several examples of the quirky palo borracho tree. In the park there is also the First Monument erected in town, a small obelisk, placed in 1955, on the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the colony.

   Mon-Sat 07:00-11:30, Mon-Fri 14:00-16:00·Free

4. See

   Museo Escolar

   school museum

   The old school building which opened its doors in 1936. One part of the exhibit is about the elementary school depicting how life was in the first school to open its doors in the Chaco wilderness. Furniture from that time, books and other school materials, including blackboards and markers, are shown. Also pictures of the different schools in the nearby settlements, teachers list, and school statistics are available. Another exhibit presents technological development in the school throughout the years such as writing and typing machines, projectors, and a copy machine.

5. See

   Museo Hospitalario

   hospital museum

   This museum is housed in the first structure built on the current hospital premises, a little house dating from 1932. With just two rooms it was used as a doctor's office, procedures room, maternity ward, laboratory, and eventually as the hospital director's office. It showcases photos depicting the hospital's history and exhibits furniture and medical instruments brought from Germany in 1931. The museum is named after Dr. Wilhelm Kaethler, one of the first Paraguay-born Mennonite doctors who began to establish a medical practice for the colony's residents and their indigenous neighbours in the 1950s.

6. See

   Museo Industrial

   Located where the original peanut silo was built in 1957. The building today is like a symbol of the industrial revolution that the Mennonites started in the 1950s and continue today. In 1958 a peanut oil refinery started operating in the building which, with its three stories, was the tallest in the colony, and it became part of an emblematic industrial park, a novelty for Paraguay in those years. The museum showcases the old cauldron and agricultural machinery used in the process of peanut collecting and industrialization. It's considered the foundation stone of what made Filadelfia the economic power that it is today.

7. See

   Museo Knelsen-Haus

   The museum exhibits what a typical house from colonial times looked like, including an old kitchen and some original household appliances. It was built in 1948 by Jakob Knelsen. It was the only hotel in Filadelfia for many years. In 2002, at the initiative of some citizens the house was renovated and converted into a household museum.

8. See

   Parque Eirene

   Located around the Eirene clinic which is also a psychiatric unit and it can be visited too.

9. See

   Parque de la Memoria

   downtown park

   A park built to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the colony. In the park there is a memorial to the hard times of the first settlers.

10. See

    Ruedas Pioneras

    An open air museum whose purpose is to remember the means of communication in the early settlement years. The initial Fernheim colonists had to travel from Puerto Casado, 215 km to the west on the river Paraguay, covering one part of the journey in a narrow gauge train, and the last 90 km had to be with wagons pulled by donkeys and mules and later with tractors and trucks. The Puerto Casado railway was a key means of transport and for colonists to do commerce during their first three decades in the Chaco.

11. See

    Second Monument

    Faith, Unity and Labor monument

    Abstract monument built in 1980 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the colony. This monument is one of the symbols of Filadelfia and is in the middle of a roundabout at the junction of the city's two main avenues: Avenida Hindenburg and Avenida Trébol.

12. See

    Third Monument

    Living and Growing Together monument

    Built in 2005 to commemorate the Fernheim colony's 75th anniversary. Located at the entrance of town, is of a more ambitious design: five figures of varying heights, representing the various ethnic groups that live in the area, hold up a ring with a cross in the middle. It looks its best at night when it is floodlit and resembles a crown.

13. See

    Parque Urundey

    City park with lots of urundey trees.

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Filadelfia (CC BY-SA 4.0).