Aracataca

Garcia Marquez was born here in 1927 and raised by his grandparents until he was eight, and the house, the town and the stories he heard in it became the raw material for One Hundred Years of Solitude - Macondo is Aracataca reworked, and the banana company of the novel draws on the United Fruit plantations of this zone. The house was demolished and has been rebuilt as a museum on the original plan and furnished from descriptions in his memoir. A 2006 referendum to rename the town Aracataca-Macondo failed to reach the required turnout. The town is small and poor, and the museum apart there is little infrastructure for the visitors the name attracts.

History

Aracataca was founded in 1885 beside the river of the same name, which runs from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta into the Ciénaga Grande, and became a municipality on 28 April 1915. From the late 19th century the companies that later merged into the United Fruit Company planted bananas across the region; the town is the birthplace of Gabriel García Márquez and the model for Macondo, and a referendum on 25 June 2006 to rename it Aracataca-Macondo failed for lack of turnout (Wikipedia, Aracataca).

What's there

• The grandparents' house rebuilt - on the original plan, furnished from his memoir.
• The town behind Macondo - reworked into the novel.
• A failed 2006 renaming referendum - which did not reach the turnout threshold.
• Traces of the banana company era - which the books draw on.

When to go

December to April. Half a day.

Before you go

The house is a reconstruction - the original was demolished. The town is poor with very limited services. Heat is heavy. It means considerably more if you have read the novel.

Nearby

Cienaga is north; Santa Marta is beyond it.

Key facts