City Tour around Valeria del Mar

We entered Valeria del Mar at 395th kilometer marker on Provincial Route 11. Its name is a tribute to Valeria Guerrero, Felicitas sister. Felicitas, a lady from Argentinian aristocracy, was the protagonist of one of the best known love and revenge stories in the country.

Felicitas Guerrero had inherited these lands (and many more) from her husband Martín. After Felicitas death, the lands passed onto the hands of her parents first and her siblings later.

When the works in Ostende, right next to Valeria del Mar, were interrupted by Second World War, the area of the sand hills was given back to Valeria Guerrero. Years later, she would sell these lands to the government in order to build a hotel resort like the one in Chapadmalal. As a result of an agreement signed with Líbero Alvarez and Raybaud Roca, 550 hectares were sold and the sand hills were fixed to the ground so as to start building the new district.

Our tour started when we left the road and turned into Espora Avenue, the main artery in town, which is characterized by not having sidewalks and being crossed by streets made of sand and dirt.

As we got to the roundabout in the intersection with Bathurst Street, we turned right towards Cariló in order to visit Saint Francis Solanus Chapel. Situated on the corner of Bathurst and Corbeta Julieta Streets, this small church stands out from the rest of the constructions and pays tribute to Saint Francis Solanus.

On July 24, 2002, father Pablo Etchepareborda placed the images of Saint Francis Solanus and the Virgin of Luján inside the temple. The image of Virgin Stella Maris, patron saint of sailors, made with Carrara marble and donated by the Italian Society of Pinamar stands on the esplanade.

We returned to the center of Valeria following Espora Avenue. We crossed the commercial area in the intersection with Azopardo Street and reached the shore. Right on that sand stood the swim resort known as Il Commendatore, owned by Benito Durante, one of the famous wrestlers from the show Titanes en el Ring. His character was precisely Il Commendatore. Durante was a pioneer of the district and founder of the first swim resort in Valeria del Mar in the 1960s.

Our tour around this small summer destination led us a few blocks away to see the house owned by the Brie family. Located on Comodoro Piedrabuena Street, between the Seafront and Azopardo Street, this small building was the first summer house in the district. Owned by doctor Brie and his family, it was built completely in wood, like a cabin and it is still preserved in good condition.

The commercial life of Valeria del Mar is concentrated on the corner of Azopardo Street and Espora Avenue, where there is a wide range of coffee-houses, restaurants and stores that represent a good site to make a stop on the way back home from the beach.

This district’s nightlife revolves around the pubs located in the center and the casino of Pinamar (the closest one), located on Provincial Route 11 and the only one in the seaside resorts of the Tuyú area on the Atlantic shore in Buenos Aires.