NORTHEASTERN CIRCUIT

WHAT TO VISIT IN MERLO

The Capilla Nuestra Señora del Rosario Chapel
Typical building of the 18th century, in a Colonial style, its roof is made from axed carob tree wooden beams and has thick adobe walls. It shows an image of the Virgen del Rosario Rosary Virgin and one of an Agonising Christ. It is on Del Ciprés and Presbítero Becerra Avenues.

The Centro Recreativo Municipal - Municipal Recreational Centre.
It is situated six blocks away from the Main Square, between Comechingones and San Martín Sts. The building is a typical example of Viceroyalty architecture, with thick adobe walls, tiled roofs, and half point arched gallery looking to the patio courtyard with its fountain or aljibe . Inside this building is the Museum Casa del Poeta, in the memory of the famous poet of San Luis, Don Antonio E. Agüero. It also has a snack bar, a swimming pool and a multiple-sports field.

The Museo "La Pampa Gringa" Museum
Exhibits scale reproductions of machinery for agriculture. There are also some rural paintings. In Avenida Norte n/n.

The Museo "Lolma" Museum
Exhibits fossils of "Glyptodonts" and Comechingones natives remains. On the road to the Algarrobo Abuelo.

The Museo "Palmira Scrosoppi" Museum.
Crafts elaborated by the artisans of Merlo, Exposition hall and crafts sale. On Del Sol Avenue No 900

The Algarrobo Abuelo - Grandfather Carob Tree.
It is an impressive example of a white carob tree, the sole survivor of the once densely populated woods of this species that ruled in the area before the arrival of the railway trains. Its estimated age is more than 800 years and it has witnessed all the historical whereabouts of the region. They have declared it "Sitio Histórico de la Ciudad" or Historical Site of the City.

Piedra Blanca
Typical highland area where houses, coloured by their beautiful gardens, are the main attraction. The stream bearing the same name marks the boundary with the Córdoba Province. At a very short distance, in Pasos Malos, the exuberant green of the Molle Pepper trees gives form to a natural park. The natural baths are of pristine and fresh waters and are surrounded by a otherworldly landscape.

Rincón del Este
The tour starts from Merlo by a little road towards East, goes into the Comechingones Highlands, with their prodigally coloured palette, and driving among Molle Pepper trees, poplars, huckleberry and fruit trees, the traveller will arrive at Rincón del Este's residential zone (East Corner). There is a bathing resort (El Rincón), hotels, camping sites and many places where to bathe. There, from the Mirador del Peñón Colorado, you will get an inspiring, panoramic view of Merlo and the Valley of Conlara.

Papagayos
Four kms to the South of Merlo is located the old village of Cerro de Oro, with its clear water streams. Further on, the town of Carpintería still preserves the simple workshop of chariots from the 19th century. Then, Los Molles resemble the typical highlander tree. The roads goes through Cortaderas, where the traveller will find all kind of commodities and services, not to mention the many sights of the sierra highlands he will discover by himself.

After this, the trip continues by the ravines of Villa Elena, and into the bosom of the Sierra. Villa Larca, with its irrigation channels and ditches dating from the 19th century, is a vacationing village that has a beach two kms away called "El Chorro de San Ignacio", were a 20 m high water fall captivates those that have the privilege to contemplate it.

This locality precedes, finally, Papagayos, last but not least. A splendid place of a wild polychrome life; very close to it is the ravine of the Papagayos Stream, whose hillsides are intensely covered by molle pepper trees, ferns and genipaps that make a deep contrast with the grey and pink coloured rocks, whose strata can be seen from the stream.

This zone offers firsts class good lodgings and multiple possibilities for camping. Other excursions will take the restless traveller from Merlo to the localities of Santa Rosa del Conlara and to Concarán.