Chascomús

Chascomús grew around a fort built in 1779 on the frontier of the pampas and kept enough of its nineteenth-century fabric to feel older than most towns on the route south: a colonial-style church on the plaza, the Capilla de los Negros, a simple brick chapel built by freed and enslaved Africans in the 1860s and still preserved, and low streets running down to the water. The lagoon, some three thousand hectares of shallow water, is the town's centre of gravity, ringed by a promenade and used for sailing, rowing and above all fishing for pejerrey, the silverside that draws anglers from the capital. Chascomús is also known in Argentine folk music, and its cultural calendar leans on that.

History

Captain Pedro Nicolás Escribano, head of the Blandengues cavalry, founded the town as the fort of San Juan Bautista on 30 May 1779, and in 1839 it was the scene of the rising of the Libres del Sur, the freemen of the south, against the regime of Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas, which ended in defeat in a battle on 7 November. The Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway reached the town in 1865, and the provincial legislature recognised it as a city and department in 1873 (Wikipedia, Chascomús).

What's there

• The lagoon - a wide shallow water with promenade, boats and anglers.
• Capilla de los Negros - the nineteenth-century chapel built by Afro-Argentines.
• The historic centre - the plaza, church and low colonial-era streets.
• The pejerrey fishing - boats and shore anglers working the lagoon.

When to go

October to April for the water and warm weather; pejerrey fishing is best in the cooler months from autumn into spring, which is a trade-off. Weekends bring day trippers from Buenos Aires. Summer is hot on the open plain.

Things to know

The lagoon is shallow and often muddy brown, and swimming is not the attraction. The town's sights are modest and take a couple of hours. Wind across the open water can be strong and persistent.

Nearby

Buenos Aires lies north on the RN2; the Atlantic coast is southeast.

Key facts