ALTA GRACIA

On the gentle western slopes of the Sierra Chica, Alta Gracia was a major Jesuit estancia that became a town, and the place where Che Guevara’s parents relocated in hopes of relieving their son’s chronic asthma. Jesuit monuments in excellent repair grace the main plaza, and a German group is bidding to restore the historic Hotel Sierras, once the destination of choice for the socially prominent from around the country, as a casino.

Alta Gracia was also the residence of Viceroy Santiago Liniers, a resistance hero during the British invasions of Buenos Aires whose royalist convictions brought about his execution during the wars of independence, and Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, who fled the Franco dictatorship after the Spanish Civil War. It’s an easy day trip from the capital, but worth considering for an overnight.

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Orientation
Some 35 kilometers southwest of Córdoba via paved RP 5, Alta Gracia (population 42,600) has a compact center based on Plaza Manuel Solares. The northwestern road over the Sierra Chica offers an interesting alternative route to Villa Carlos Paz and the high country to the west.

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Sights
Overlooking Plaza Solares, Alta Gracia’s Jesuit monuments are the main reason to come here. The Iglesia Parroquial Nuestra Señora de la Merced, finished only five years before the Jesuits’ expulsion from the Americas, stands alongside the Museo Histórico Nacional del Virrey Liniers (tel. 03547/421303, www.museoliniers.org.ar, US$.65), where the viceroy resided for just a few months in 1810. With 17 permanent exhibit rooms on topics ranging from Comechingones ethnology to daily life and customs in the province, it’s open 9 a.m.–8 p.m. weekdays except Monday, 9:30 a.m.–8 p.m. weekends and holidays in summer; the rest of the year hours are 9 a.m.–1 p.m. and 3–7 p.m. weekdays except Monday, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and 3:30–6:30 p.m. the rest of the year. During winter holidays, however, it does not close at midday.

Other Jesuit constructions flank the church and museum: to the south, the workshops known as El Obraje (1643) survive as a public school; to the north, the Tajamar (1659) diked a field to create a reservoir used for irrigating the Jesuit vineyards and orchards. It’s now a city park.

Several blocks northwest, Che Guevara’s family frequented the deteriorating Sierras Hotel (Avenida Vélez Sarsfield s/n), though their diminished economic standing undercut their social position. Manuel de Falla lived seven years in the house known as Chalet Los Espinillos, now home to Museo Manuel de Falla (Avenida Pellegrini 1011, tel. 03547/421592, US$.35). It still contains the composer’s Eavestaff minipiano and other personal items. Hours are 3–8 p.m. daily except Monday and Saturday; in February only, there are weekday morning hours (9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. except Monday) and Saturday afternoon hours (3–8 p.m.). Immediately opposite Falla’s house, Che frequented the Club de Golf, acquiring a taste for the game that lasted into his Cuban years.

Che and his family moved from house to rented house, but their principal residence was Villa Nydia (known until recently as Villa Beatriz), a solid, spacious, middle-class residence—despite frequent financial setbacks, the Guevaras were not poor people. It is now home to the Museo Ernesto Che Guevara (Avellaneda 501, tel. 03547/428579, museocheguevara@latinmail.com.ar, 9 a.m.–7 p.m. daily).

While the museum does a good job of reconstructing Che’s boyhood—through a photographic history of Ernesto and his family in Alta Gracia society, his school report cards, and memories by his classmates, cook Rosario González and others—it doesn’t really place it in any larger historical context. Admittedly this may not be the place for a complete summary of his life, but from its contents one would hardly know that Che was a controversial figure, or have any idea why it was converted into a museum, and why so many neighbors opposed the conversion.

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Entertainment
Cinecenter Alta Gracia (Avenida Belgrano 466, tel. 03547/422459) is a comfortable, modern movie theater.

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Information and Services
The municipal Dirección de Turismo (Avenida del Tajamar 1, tel. 03547/428128, www.altagracia.gov.ar, turismoycultura@altagracia.gov.ar) is on the ground floor of the Reloj Público, the clocktower at the northwest corner of Plaza Manuel Solares. It’s open 8 a.m.–8 p.m. daily.

Banco de Córdoba has an ATM at Belgrano and Lozada.

Correo Argentino is at Avenida Libertador 577; the postal code is 5186. There’s a Telecentro at Avenida del Libertador 1909.

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Getting There and Around
The long-distance Terminal de Ómnibus, which has direct service to Buenos Aires, is at Avenida Sarmiento and Vélez Sarsfield. Opposite Plaza Solares, Sarmiento Diferencial de Pasajeros (Belgrano 71, tel. 03547/426001) operates about 20 buses daily to and from Córdoba; it also has half a dozen daily to Villa Carlos Paz.