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Medellín is the country's main industrial hub, but don't expect a city full of smoking chimneys: the factories are well outside of town. Deep-green mountains that rise sharply around the city provide a bold backdrop to the glass-and-concrete towers of its elegant financial district. Well-developed tourist facilities in the city proper testify to the region's relative economic strength.
While El Poblado holds all the cards when it comes to dining and nightlife, it is the historic center that provides visitors with their cultural fix, most notably in the blocks between the Parque de Bolívar and the Plaza Botero. A pedestrian street, Avenida Carabobo, stretches south of the Plaza Botero for eight blocks, ending in the modern seat of the government of Antioquia.
Despite its location in the middle of crowded Medellín, this shady park has a generous amount of open space. In the evening it's popular with young people who congregate on the steps of the nearby cathedral. The small Lido theater, on the eastern side of the square, has borne witness to the growth of Medellín's theater and cinema since its construction in 1945.
This small sculpture park near the peak of Cerro Nutibara is a maze of paths dotted with modern and traditional sculptures by Latin American artists.
