Step by step, a walking tour through the history of Mar del Plata and the Rambla

The guide stands with her back to the beach one January afternoon. Behind her, everything is bustling: Bristol, a skate park, street vendors… The typical postcard of summer. But Victoria Gazzanego -Vicky to her friends- stops on Peralta Ramos Avenue to tell the story. history and evolution of the most famous coastal walk in the country: the Rambla from Mar del Plata.

“Hay two very important moments in the history of the city: the year 1886, when the railroad arrived, and the founding of the Bristol Hotel, something that the city needed to become a vacation destination,” says Vicky while pointing out the former location on the block they now occupy. in the center the streets San Martín, Entre Ríos, Corrientes and Rivadavia.

The walk along the Rambla and along the hill of the Stella Maris neighborhood is an excellent opportunity to discover a walk that many of us took on vacation, but few of us know in depth. The tour begins at the Central Casino, designed by the architect Alejandro Bustillo.

From there, Vicky proposes a tour of the Mar del Plata of the past – he relies on a folder with articles and old photographs – and of the traces in this present of the city that this weekend is celebrating its 150 years.

In the first minutes, he recounts the successive boulevards of the city; shows what the “bathroom stalls” that the upper classes used to change before a swim; the customs of the elite, such as the obligation to be introduced by someone to stay at the prestigious Bristol Hotel and the Playa Grande urbanization in the 1920s, in addition to the Horizontal Property Law, which produced a construction boom and changed its appearance at the end of the 40s.

“Here Bustillo was able to do…” says Vicky when we enter the spacious hall of the hotel Provincial. And he makes a comparison with his work at Banco Nación in the city of Buenos Aires.

We stop at the small: the monumental lines of the construction, the murals in the entrance hall to the hotel made by his son César Bustillothe characteristics of the building and its casino twin, inspired by the Louis XIII style.

“Between the 50s and 70s a good part of the heritage was demolished of this city,” adds the guide, while we rest with our backs to the sea and looking at the Demetrio Elíades building (known to everyone as the Havanna building), the tallest in the city, at 125 meters. “He is hated by some and loved by others,” she clarifies.

Next door, in a clash of tradition and modernity, an old picturesque chalet survives as a witness to other times. “Grandma’s jewel,” he adds about the house.

For a moment, we left the coast and turned down Alvear Street, full of sumptuous residences on the way to the large hill of Colón Avenue.

There, the architectural styles he mentions – academic, picturesque and many others – mix with the family stories: the Blaquiers, the Ortiz Basualdo – where the beautiful Juan Carlos Castagnino Municipal Art Museum now operates -, the Bellocqs… In front of the Blaquier mansion you can see, almost demolished, a small wooden house. “Those who built the house first lived there and then the family employees lived,” says Vicky.

The legs feel the rise of the hill, which is part of the rock massif of the Tandilia mountain system. Far away, after the effort, the landscape It is enriched by the hill elevated to 44 meters. The whole sea comes at the end of the climb.

“I’m going upwind against the wind, I don’t even care about Colón Hill if it awaits me” says the song by the Mar del Plata band Creciente, which pays tribute to that icon.

The final stop is at the Stella Maris chapelbuilt by a Commission of Ladies and Gentlemen of the Bristol Hotel chaired by Mrs. Ana Elía de Ortiz Basualdo.

We enter. On the altar there is an image of the Virgin Mary on a sea background. A decantation of light filters through the stained glass windows. There is silence. The hustle and bustle of the beach in summer is left behind.

• Flybondi and Aerolíneas Argentinas have direct flights from Aeroparque to Mar del Plata. Round trip tickets in March, from $67,000.

• Vía Tac, Micromar, Plusmar and San Juan Mar del Plata are some of the bus companies that go from Retiro to Mar del Plata. Tickets from $28,880 in a semi-bed.

Bristol Condominio Apart Hotel is on the pedestrian San Martín, 50 meters from Bristol Beach. Apartment for 2 people, $82,000 per night, with breakfast (bristolcondominio.com.ar).

MDP Guided Walks is a venture of the tourist guides Andrea Ángela García and Victoria Gazzanego.

In addition to the walk along the Rambla and the hill of the Stella Maris neighborhood, they organize tours about the life of Alfonsina Storni, the sisters Victoria and Silvina Ocampo and the history of Playa Grande, among others.

Group tours are done with a minimum of two people, and cost $9,000 per couple. Reports: 0223-5405943; Instagram @caminatasguiadasmdp

The gastronomic proposals are very diverse and there is something for all tastes and budgets. Here, some suggestions.

• La Fonte D’ Oro is a classic bar and restaurant in Mar del Plata. Menus from $7,500 with starter, main course and drink (lafontedoro.com).

• Montecatini is another classic with several branches: menus from $8,000 (montecatini. com.ar).

• In the SushiClub chain, a 30-piece sushi combo – two people eat – from $25,000 (sushiclub. com.ar).

• turismomardelplata.gob.ar