What the colorful Circuit of the Stairs is like in San Pedro

The mist of dawn that arrives from Paraná dissipates with disdain on the coastal canyon of San Pedro and the first glimpses of the sun begin to highlight the vivid colors of the Flower Staircase.

The images of this open-air work of art stretch over the intense green wall like a kind of Carnival float that is preparing to take the stage.

Neatly drawn on mosaics, the petals of the chamomile flower decorate the first section of the climb from the waterfront to Miter Street. After the first break, a rose bush takes over and, higher up, the representations of the water peach tree – captured on little venetian stars -, forget-me-nots and the bell flower, achieved with iridescent glass, follow.

Driven by the overflowing enthusiasm of the architect María Luz Méndez and the graduate in Visual Arts Mariana Marioli, artists from all over the country dedicated themselves to replicating some of the most colorful pieces of the world on mosaics. landscape of the northern region Buenos Aires

Added to them was the contribution of the Ecological Conscience group so that the thick plant cover harmonized with the first staircase in the country intervened with mosaics in a natural space.

From the very moment of his inauguration, in 2021the staircase went from being a simple shortcut to go straight down to the corridor of spas and yacht clubs to an increasingly crowded promenade, covered with mosaics, tiles, pieces of glass, ceramics and vitrofusion, which invites you to stop and enjoy the view. with its chromatic display and take a collection of photos on the go.

They have 112 steps, murals and information panels to choose the best image.

He renewed look of the old cement staircase mutated into a work of art, it attracted José Aguilar, founder of the Fray Manuel de Torres Paleontological Museum, who approached it for the first time out of mere curiosity and now passes through it daily.

“La Escalera is an ideal attraction for visitors to the city, which can be perfectly combined with the guided tour of the museum and visit to the Campo Spósito site -in Río Tala, 10 kilometers from San Pedro-, where fossil species allow us to discover each stage of the region’s prehistory,” the specialist suggests the possible scales of an expanded walk.

Méndez detected that the response from neighbors and tourists exceeded expectations and went for more. He set out to expand the scope of his artistic project and set his sights seven blocks from here, on the stairs that abruptly cut off the layout of Sarmiento Avenue and descend to the Fishermen and Nautical Club.

This time, his initiative was echoed in 140 artistswho joined hands to decorate the 104 steps with motifs inspired by some of the more than 200 species of birds found in the ravine and the most representative varieties of fish from the southernmost portion of Paraná.

The latest installment of the bold bet of the Morón architect and mosaicist -the Fisherman’s Laddercovered and enabled for public and free use since last January – was recognized as “Of Provincial Legislative Interest.”

Now, a triad of intervened open-air spaces – the forty steps of the Stair of Colors They make up the remaining leg of the series, on one side of the slope of the final curve of Naón Street, which leads to the Avenida Costanera España – they outline the Circuit of the Stairs conceived with the noble purpose of moving sensitive souls and, step, reveal the intense bond of the Sampedrinos with their environment of water, wetlands, flora, fauna and brown river, those essential supports that sustain their identity.

• From the city of Buenos Aires to San Pedro it is 170 kilometers along Route 9 (Panamericana Campana branch).

• Chevallier semi-sleeper bus from Retiro (3 hours), $8,000.

• Train San Martín from Retiro (every day at 7:30 p.m.; arrives in 3 and a half hours), $2,830 in Primera and $3,455 in Pullman.

• Leime Cabins: two days and one night for two people with a heated indoor pool, kitchen with dishes, oven and refrigerator, cable TV, wi-fi, foosball, pool and shuffleboard, $82,000; for 4, $116,000; for 6, $156,000 (155- 0976364 / 155- 8302260 / leime.sanpedro@gmail.com / www.leime.com.ar / Facebook: Cabañas Leime – San Pedro – Buenos Aires).

• Admission to the Paleontological Museum, $1,500. 2-hour excursions are organized. 30′ to the Campo Spósito fossil site (03329- 420-723/423-860 / gsfosiles@gmail.com