Luque

Luque adjoins Asuncion and was briefly the national capital in the 1860s, and it has kept two crafts. Silver filigree is worked in family workshops through the town, fine drawn wire twisted and soldered into earrings, brooches and the traditional pieces worn with the ao po'i, in a technique inherited from Spain and practised here longer than anywhere else in the country. The other is instrument making: the Paraguayan harp, a light diatonic harp of around thirty-six strings played across Latin America and central to Paraguayan music, is built in Luque workshops along with guitars, and the makers can be visited. The town also holds the South American football confederation's headquarters and museum.

What you actually see

• Silver filigree - the drawn-wire work in the family workshops.
• Harp making - the Paraguayan harps built in the instrument shops.
• Guitar workshops - the other instruments made in the town.
• The football museum - the confederation collection on the town edge.

When to go

Year round; weekdays are when the workshops are working. Luque is next to Asuncion and easily reached. The football museum keeps its own hours and needs checking.

Honest expectations

Workshops are working premises and visits are informal, best arranged rather than unannounced. Luque is a busy suburban town with heavy traffic. Filigree prices reflect the labour involved. The town has few conventional sights.

Nearby

Asuncion lies southwest; Aregua is east.