Capilla del Monte

Capilla del Monte sits beneath Cerro Uritorco, at 1,979 metres the highest peak of the Sierras Chicas, and the climb to its summit is the town's main outdoor draw: a steep six-hour round trip through scrub and rock, starting early because access closes in the afternoon. The town has a second, stranger reputation. Since a widely reported incident in 1986 in which locals described finding a scorched oval mark on a nearby hillside, Capilla del Monte has become Argentina's centre for UFO folklore, with a small museum, themed shops, an annual gathering and no shortage of guides offering night watches. Around the town are worthwhile natural sites: the eroded red formations of Los Terrones, the Calabalumba river pools, and Ongamira further east.

History

The town counts its founding from 30 October 1585, when Lucía González Jaimes, daughter of the conquistador Bartolomé Jaimes, inherited land here, and between 1695 and 1719 Captain Antonio de Ceballos built the first chapel, which gave the place its name, chapel on the hill; it was rebuilt in 1908 as the church of San Antonio de Padua. In 1878 the German-Argentine scientist Adolf Döring settled here, bought a ranch and until his death in 1925 laid out the streets and sewers of the present centre, and the town grew through the first half of the 20th century. On 9 January 1986 a dark mark about 100 metres across appeared on Mount Pajarillo, the Huella del Pajarillo, believed to have been staged, and since then the town has drawn people interested in UFOs, mysticism and the esoteric (Wikipedia, Capilla del Monte).

What you'll find

• Cerro Uritorco - the summit climb with wide views over the sierras.
• Los Terrones - eroded red rock formations in a private reserve nearby.
• The river pools - swimming spots on the Calabalumba in summer.
• The UFO folklore - museum, shops and night-watch tours in town.

When to go

Year-round; spring and autumn are best for the climb, summer is hot and afternoon storms are common, winter mornings are cold but clear. Uritorco access has fixed opening hours and closes when weather is poor.

Things to know

The Uritorco climb is genuinely strenuous, exposed and hot, and it is not the gentle walk its popularity suggests. The UFO tourism is commercial and will strike many visitors as silly. The town itself is ordinary, busy in holiday season.

Nearby

Ongamira and its caves lie east; La Falda and the Punilla valley are south.

Key facts