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, the strike and the massacre in the novel draw on the 1928 killing of striking United Fruit workers at Cienaga nearby. 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.

What you actually see

• 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.

Honest expectations

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.