“This is Las Maríasthat was one of the stalls of the El Saboyardo stay, the stay where the city of Miramar is created and that was owned by Andrés de la Plaza, father of Fortunato de la Plaza, founder of Miramar ”, begins explaining the guide Carlos Pagliardini while looking at a old abandoned constructionpainted with graffiti and surrounded by weeds.
Thus we start the Tour “Hidden miramar“, Which adds chips to that” another Miramar “, which goes beyond its” sun and beach “offer and that, along with other attractions, makes the city become more and more at a destination of the whole yearideal for weekend getaways, as for the long weekend: March 22 to 24 and Easter, April 17 to 20.
“This house has been everything,” says Carlos -; In a time he had the local parish, and it was even a cultural coffee. But it was always said that it is a Rare place, with special energythat attracts attention, and associates it with a caregiver who, back in the 1980s, committed suicide by hunging a beam. It is said that since then The open door is usually seenand when photos are taken inside, many times A strange, inexplicable halo appears”.
It is point 1 of the circuit, two blocks from a synagogue, from where we go to point 2, the “POZO monument”, Which tells the history of the Neptune, the project of the highest building in Latin America, which was only done … yes, precisely, this huge well of an apple and several meters deep, 100 meters from the beach.
From there we continue for the legend of hidden treasure under a buildingthe history of the Jewish immigrationwhich mixes with the presence of Nazishe First shark attack of Argentina, the tunnel that crosses under the route Between the golf course and the beach, the beautiful Patricios Parkwhich recovered an area that used to flood with a green space, a lake with rental boats, bridges and banks, and for other points and stories of the city.
Knowing Sid and Diego
The visit to Miramar continues in the afternoon for the surprising Natural Sciences Museumwithin the huge Dunícola nurserysurely will dazzle more than one: neat, with an impeccable presentation, in a house that originally occupied engineers who studied in the forest and was restored by the municipality along with the Azara Foundation.
It is to admire the impeccable Fossil exhibition and remains found in the areain eight rooms that include paleontology, archeology – with the first inhabitants of the area – and biology and marine diversity. Original fossils are protected by showcases, and reconstructions can be seen closely and even touching, ideal for blind people to recognize them.
Among the real -scale reconstructions, the boys delight especially with The lazy giant – “It’s like Sid, from the Ice Age,” says my daughter Daniel Boh, museologist and director of the museum- and with a saber teeth tigerthat immediately brings Diego, from the same movie. In fact, in Miramar the only traces of the world of this old SmilodonAnd they are in this museum!
Also The laboratory where technicians work as Luciana Villafañe, who accompanies us on the tour, because the area is very rich in fossils and There are continuously new findings. In fact, the superior technicians in paleontology who work in the museum are received here, in Miramar.
The wealth of the area is largely due to the great Meteorite that fell about 3.5 million years ago About 300 km in sea, although then that area was not sea but land firm. It is estimated that this impact caused the Disappearance of numerous species In the place, and those are the fossils that are constantly found.
History and art outdoors
The sunset takes us to Mar del Sud, a small town located 16 km south of Miramar on Route 11. In addition to its wide beaches and the history of Jewish immigration that arrived at the scene almost 150 years ago, the place is unmissable by The incredible Hotel Boulevard Atlánticoa shocking building that rises on the main street -the 100th street, which leads directly to the beach and its hostel -, with its very white facade and its black roof, recently recovered.
The history of the hotel gives for another note -for a book, actually -, but what interests us here is that this luxury accommodation for the time –opened in 1889– He never operated in fullness, and after closing, he was abandoned and he deduced and collapsed gradually over the decades.
Now finally It is being restoredand in what was formerly the main hall it works A restaurant by Martín Heiz, and this summer joined A pizzeria On the first floor.
Of There are three rooms that receive guests And the plan is keep restoring The rest of the building, and in the future include more services, such as Spa. Anyway, that immense project that at the end of the 19th century gave birth to the people, is now gradually returning to life, as part of a dream that imagines transforming Sea del Sud.
We go back to Miramar on a beautiful route on Route 11, always accompanied by a forest curtain -Ante them, the famous energy forest-, to reach the next day to the last scale of this trip, very close to the city center; On the side of the El Durazno River, where it flows into the sea.
In a green esplanade that leads to the municipal swimmingness and the Teacher and Technical Training Institute, several walls are built about 4 meters long by 3 high, in which artists from all over the world have embodied and gifted their works to the city: It is part of the legacy of the six editions already made of the Art Biennialan event that is done outdoors in this space around the José Hernández amphitheater, from which the sea is seen.
An encounter of artists from different countries that work outdoors -They can see and even join some work- that is leaving works throughout the city, such as the urban furniture of the Costanera or the huge water tank INote by the muralist Martín Ronconsidered one of the best in the world.
“I am in charge of the biennial, but who really is the mentor, the driver of everything, it is Marité Svat,” César Dante tells me while we walk between the murals -ginturas, engraved, mosaics-, and anticipates whatand the next edition will be made from April 4 to 13, under the slogan DNA of the sea“As a way to identify the diversity with which we are in this area of the Atlantic coast.”
Another great excuse – because if necessary – to approach Know the usual Miramar and the “other”that which tells mysteries, stories and legends.
How to get to Miramar
● Miramar is 450 km from Bs. As. By highway 2 to Mar del Plata, Av. Antarctida Argentina and Viejo Camino to Miramar. Mar del Plata can also go by Route 11 (45 km).
● Retirement bus (6h 30 ‘), from $ 60,500 IDA.
Where to stay
Hotel Turingia (3 est.): Hab. Double with breakfast, garage and tent in the spa (until Holy Week), $ 76,000 (WhatsApp +549291420526; Hoteltouningia. Com.ar). Hab. Triple, $ 98,000.
How much does it cost
Guided excursion to the energy forest or “miramar hidden”, $ 40,000; minors than 12, free (WhatsApp +54 9 2291 46-1219;