Quilmes Ruins — Attraction in Municipio de Colalao del Valle

Truly amazing archaeological site where you can walk around the ruins of an huge ancient pre-Incan citadel and sacred city that was built by the Quilmes native population about one thousand years before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. The city was abandoned in the year 1665 after the Quilmes were defeated by the Spanish (and forcibly marched over 1400 Km away) and re-discovered only in the late 1800s. A small museum at the entrance contains some beautiful artifacts (mostly pottery) and shows a touching movie with the history of the place and the Quilmes population, setting the stage for your visit. You can visit with a guide or on your own. It is a most interesting, unique and moving experience. Highly...

The place features some of the best views you will get in Argentina.

For starters, I didn't expect the museum to be so modern. The people in the stores and the guides were very nice and friendly as well.

I climbed 300 meters (about 1000 feet) following the old tracks built by the ancient townsfolk. I must admit, they had a remarkably robust way of building things as all the stone stairs are still there and quite firm. However, some areas of the track are unstable, so you need to wear proper mountain shoes and mind your step as you could easily slip and fall. Also, lots of wasps on the way, so keep that in mind if you are afraid of them like I am x-x

Lots of tourists too, but it seems to be quieter during...

Sept.25: After a scenic drive we arrived @Ruins of Quilmes.

We paid entrance fee of ARS12.000 = €7.50 p.p. This was for museum, archeological site as well as for the perfectly clean toilets with even the possibility to have clean drinking water.

Fernanda who spoke really good English explained the 4 rooms of the museum. Nr. 3 would have an interactive video in about 15 minutes & would telll us all about the histtory, living, war, defeat & captivation of the Quilmes people.

Nr. 1 & 2 were informative with headphones for English, Spanish or Portuguese. Nr.4 was an exhibition of artifacts.

@site there were huge cacti. We went all the way up to the Northern viewpoint; we spend here a bit more...