Museo Gauchesco y Parque Criollo Ricardo Güiraldes

Museo Gauchesco y Parque Criollo Ricardo Güiraldes Review

Gaucho life of the past is celebrated—and idealized—at this quiet museum on a small estate just outside town. Start at the 150-year-old pulpería (the gaucho version of the saloon), complete with dressed-up wax figures ready for a drink. Then head for the museum proper, an early-20th-century replica of a stately 18th-century casco de estancia (estancia house). Here, polished wooden cases contain a collection of traditional gaucho gear: mates, elaborately decorated knives, ponchos, and all manner of elaborate saddlery and bridlery. The museum is named for local writer Ricardo Güiraldes (1886-1927), whose romantic gaucho novels captured the imagination of the Argentinean people. Several rooms document his life in San Antonio de Areco and the real-life gauchos who inspired his work.