San Gregorio de Polanco

San Gregorio de Polanco sits on the shore of the Rincón del Bonete reservoir, which flooded the low ground in 1945, and on 10 April 1993 the town opened as the country's first open-air museum of visual arts; there are now more than seventy murals across the houses, shops and public buildings. A long sand beach on the reservoir is the other reason people come.

The main sights

• The murals - more than seventy paintings across the town's walls since 1993.
• The reservoir beach - a long sand shore on the Rincon del Bonete.
• The open-air museum - the whole town treated as a gallery.
• The lake - flooded in 1945 behind the Rincón del Bonete dam.

When to go

December to March for the beach and the warm weather. The murals are visible year round. Winter is quiet with much closed.

What to expect

Murals vary in quality and condition; some are faded or damaged. The town is remote and the roads in are long. Outside summer facilities are limited.

Nearby

Tacuarembo is north, and Paso de los Toros is southwest.

Key facts