Uribelarrea

Uribelarrea was founded in 1890, its streets traced from 1888, as a planned rural settlement beside the railway, with a grid of streets, a French-influenced church, a school and a row of brick shops, and then history largely passed it by: the population stayed under two thousand, little was demolished, and the village kept its late nineteenth-century face almost whole. Film crews noticed, and it has stood in for period Argentina in numerous productions, including scenes for internationally released films. Visitors come for a slow walk past the church and old facades, a meal in one of the pulperías, country stores turned into restaurants serving asado and picadas, and the horse-and-carriage rides that operate at weekends. The surrounding country is flat pampas farmland.

History

The town was founded in 1890, when a rancher sold his land here to create a farming community, its streets traced from 1888; the church of Our Lady of Luján was built that same year and the railway station in 1892. Settled mainly by Basque and Italian immigrants, it became a centre of the dairy industry, above all in the 1930s and 1940s (Wikipedia, Uribelarrea).

Highlights

• The 1890s streets - brick shopfronts, the church and the old school.
• The pulperías - country stores turned restaurants serving asado and picadas.
• The film locations - corners used repeatedly as period sets.
• The pampas setting - flat farmland and big sky around the village.

When to go

Year-round, though weekends are when the pulperías, carriage rides and craft stalls operate; on weekdays much of the village is closed. Spring and autumn are most pleasant. Summer is hot with no shade on the streets.

Things to know

This is a very small place and the visit is essentially lunch and a walk. On weekdays there may be nothing open at all. The village is genuinely lived in, so the film-set feeling can tip into feeling intrusive.

Nearby

Cañuelas is the nearest town; Buenos Aires lies northeast.

Key facts