This is Maimará, the magical Jujeño people candidate to be among the best tourist towns in the world

Perhaps the first thing that impacts those who come to Maimará by National Route 9 is the range of colors with which they are received Painter’s palettea multicolored hill that seems to monitor the town from the other side of the Rio Grande, where the Humahuac fantastic range of tonesof the ocher to the yellow, green, red and the intense celestial of the sky.

These colored hills surround Maimará, an old town based on the Rio Grande, one of the eight chosen to represent Argentina at the Best Tourism Villages, a UN Tourism initiative that recognizes communities located in rural environments with less than 15,000 inhabitants that stand out for preserving and promoting their cultural and natural values ​​and their lifestyle.

Maimará, of 3,500 inhabitants, was selected to participate in the 2025 edition together with San Javier and Yacanto (Córdoba), Villa Elisa (Entre Ríos), Seclantás (Salta), Saldungaray (Buenos Aires), Families (Rioja), Colonia Carlos Pellegrini (Corrientes) and Uspallata (Mendoza). The eight destinations have the possibility of entering the list of the “best tourist peoples” in the world.

The colors of the hills of the Humahuaca Quebradcultural landscape”- They are not the product of painters but of nature: it is a geological phenomenon given by the overlap of mineral layers that, when product of winds and rain erosion, leaves an unmatched chromatic fan.

That long corridor between mountains that forms the ravine -about 155 km from north to south -, with the Rio Grande as a center, has been for at least 10,000 years a permanent contact and interaction between territories and distant and different culturesfrom the height of the Andes to the southern plains.

And it has been the scene of Much of the cultural developments of the region and neighboring countriesfrom the installation of the first hunter towns to the present.

In addition, he has played a fundamental role in the wars of independence of the nineteenth century, where Maimará worked as an important stop point on the route that linked the Alto Peru with the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

4 km from the current town is the Hornillos postwhich was founded in 1772 as a post of change of horses for travelers but then became a Crucial Military Detachment for the Northern Army Commanded by Manuel Belgrano, when he used it as an advanced fort and barracks of Commander Manuel Álvarez Prado.

There rested General Belgrano in 1813; In 1979 the post was enabled as a museum and in 2002 It was declared a national historical place. Today is still a Unmissable museum which exhibits both archaeological elements and weapons, means of transport and furniture of the time.

But that is before arriving in Maimará coming from the south, from the capital of Jujeña. You enter the creek into Volcanothen go through Tumbaya and his picturesque cemetery; Some km later is the detour to Purmamarca On Route 52, the Hornillos post and then 7 km before reaching Tilcara, the beauty of Maimará demand to stop, lower the rhythm and enjoy.

Because, like other villages of the ravine, Maimará – who in Aymara language means “the other year” – he gives Postcards of a natural artwhere the contrast between the earth, the sky and the colonial and adobe houses with colorful fronts reflects a very special harmony between geography and everyday life.

Walk their streets in subbaja -As Martín Rodríguez, Necochea or Lavalle- crossed by San Martín Street and Belgrano Avenue, is to cross with old colonial fronts, stores and markets, old houses transformed into cozy accommodations or small family restaurants.

A pleasure for the senses, a human scale walk, an immersion in an millenary history but current, alivein which culture accumulated layer on cape, such as the minerals that shine in the mountains.

Very close, the cemeterytraditional like others in the area, with tombs and tombstones that climb the slopes, it is another point of visit.

But the people are much more than their natural environment; is above all his cultural identitythat remains alive and energetic; That is the main parchment with which he presents himself as a candidate in UN Tourism.

In early August, everything in Maimará revolves around the Pachamama -Your day is August 1-; In summer the music, colors and dance of the comparsas of the Cabadeño Carnivala unique celebration whose beginning usually dates every January 1, when the Chamoda of Motherone more way of celebrating the relationship with the Pachamama spraying spraying alcoholic beverages on cajones (small mountains of stones) or other sites.

It is an ancestral practice of thanks and connection with nature that today, as hundreds of years ago, is still alive, in a great party where you have to end soaked and flour upholstery while dance to the rhythm of the music of the comparsas. The Maimareños themselves define it as “The largest chayada in the Norte Argentino”.

Unmissable also Artisan Fairs between houses of bright colors -as infected by the hills-; The artisanal decorations on the fronts of the houses and the central square, a good place to rest in the shade.

But in Maimará You have to leave; You have to travel, walk the hillssoak up that mountain landscape that makes the cultural identity of the place so much.

From the center they can be taken different paths to explore the surroundingsreaching viewpoints with panoramic views to the Valleyou castillos and the cave of Huichairaextraordinary natural formations that, below and for slits, show the Valley of the Rio Grande and the mountains on the other side.

Good walks go to Suma Acha (one 4 km), where you can also walk between streets and adobe houses and visit, for example, the El Tree workshop, of the Ceramists Milagro and Nadalino, and the Pucará de Tilcarawhich can be reached in a large walk of about 8 km.

Sure, it is also worth walking Even the tilcara itself (7 km), a very lively town that is usually something like the center of activity of the ravine.

And if the Río Grande is not grown, do not miss the visit to the FERNANDO DUPONT BODEGAan agronomist who arrived in the area as a tourist, fell in love with the place and began producing wines, which were praised even by chef Francis Mallmann.

They are the first vineyards of the ravine and are In the San Pedrito placeon the shore in front of the river -almost just halfway between Maimará and Tilcara. It is reached by a beautiful walk of just 2.5 km. You can also cross with a vehicle, because the river usually has very low flow.

Dupont apply crops based on ancestral care techniques and coexistence with the environment and its energy cycle, and it is a great opportunity to know one of the local vine a 2.400 MSnmand the winery is Open to visitors.

Is one of the alternatives of Rural tourism of an area characterized by families of agricultural producersthat provide the possibility of exchanging with the producers, participating in crops and even sharing the table with the families of the place.

In addition, located in the heart of the magical landscape of the Quebrada de Humahuaca, Maimará is near all its attractions: south, volcano (at 35 km), Tumbaya (28) and Purmarmarca (18); and north, Tilcara (7 km), Uquía (23), Huacalera () and Humahuaca (50 km), 200 km from the quiacay the border with Bolivia. This makes it a Excellent basis to travel northern Jujeño from an authentic site and with a unique cultural imprint.

The dream of becoming one of the best villages in the world is already underway. Maimará has what, and eager the results of the competition, which will be announced from October, when the UN Tourism announced the distinguished peoples worldwide.

● In car: Maimará is 1,550 km from Buenos Aires by National Route 9 to Rosario, RN 34 to Rosario de la Frontera (Salta), and RN 34 to San Salvador de Jujuy; From there, 77 km more for RN 9.

● By plane: Airlines, Jetsmart and Flybondi, from $ 55,598 round trip from August (only with cabin luggage).

● From there to Maimará is 1h 30 ‘by bus; The passage costs from $ 6,300 Ida.

In Maimará there is a hotel, hospitality, cabins, family accommodations and guest houses. In the La Paleta del Pintor Hostería, a triple room with private bathroom, parking and wifi, from $ 82,956.12 a night; Two bedroom house for 4, $ 175,129.60 (www.lapaletadelpintor.com.ar).

● www.turismo.jujuy.gob.ar