Page 160 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Argentina

158  ARGENTINA REGION B Y REGION

traditional cantinas serve
steaks and pastas. Every June,
bahienses, as the locals are
known, pay homage to the
Italian saint San Silverio, the
patron saint of fishermen.
E Museo del Puerto
Guillermo Torres 4180. Tel (0291) 457-
3006. Open 8am–1pm Mon–Fri,
4–8pm Sat & Sun. 0
∑ bahiablanca.gov.ar

y Santa Rosa
Road map C3. 75 miles (120 km) NW
of Bahía Blanca. * 124,000. ~ @
n Ave Luro 400, (02954) 424-404.
Barber shop kept intact inside Museo del Puerto, Bahía Blanca
Founded in 1892 shortly after
t Bahía Blanca Rivadavia, makes for a pleasant Argentinian forces had van-
stroll. Located southwest of the quished the native Mapuche
Road map C3. 235 miles (380 km) SW
of Tandil. * 301,000. ~ @ plaza, the Barrio Inglés, with its settlements, the city of Santa
n Brown 1700, (0291) 481-3993. red-brick semi-detached houses Rosa was originally little more
_ Fiesta de San Silverio (Jun). built for railroad workers, than a handful of estancias,
∑ bahiablanca.gov.ar reminds visitors of the granted to offi cers who
railroad boom of the had taken part in the
Known as the Liverpool of 1880s. The main Conquista del Desierto
Argentina, Bahía Blanca has a attraction in the campaign (see p56).
history, like the famous English city is Museo del Today, this friendly
city, that is insepara ble from the Puerto, housed in city has grown into
sea. In 1828, a fort ress was an old customs an important trans-
established here, principally as a building, dedi cated port hub and has
maritime base for defending the to the history and two main urban
southern coast against Brazilian evolu tion of the port. centers. The rela-
invad ers. In 1884, railroads were The main exhibition is tively newer Centro
laid by British firms and Bahía made up of tableaux Old steering wheel at Cívico is where the
enjoyed a commer cial and vivans, mannequins of Museo del Puerto govern ment offices
cultural dynamism that made sailors, dock workers, and the bus term inal
it unique on this other wise barmen, and shopkeepers, who are located. The more interest-
remote strip of Atlantic coast. repre sent “local lifestyles.” The ing area is around Plaza San
Around the same time, 12 miles museum’s archive contains Martín, where there is a quasi-
(20 km) southeast of the city, photographs, documents, and modernist cathedral, several
Puerto Belgrano was created, recorded oral histories. The cafés, and Museo Provincial de
and today it is the country’s entire port quarter is worth Historia Natural. The museum’s
largest naval base. visiting on Sundays, when collection of indigenous
By the end of the 19th
century, apart from being a
powerful rail road and naval
base, Bahía Blanca was boom-
ing due to grain and meat
exports. When Argentina
needed a major cargo port to
service the farms of southern
Buenos Aires, an Anglo-
Argentinian engineer named
Don Guillermo White built
wharves here which, even
today, remain the busiest
outside Buenos Aires.
The modern city is no tourist
hot spot, but Avenida Alem,
with its assort ment of European
architec tural styles and Plaza The Centro Cívico building at Santa Rosa
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p280 and pp291–2

158-159_EW_Argentina.indd 158 05/08/16 10:41 am
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Date 12th July 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm