Magnasco Museum

It started as a library founded by Luisa Bugnone and Camila E. Nievas. Nowadays it is a museum which has different collections: books, archives, newspapers, periodicals, art and coins. The museum was first opened on June 19, 1898. It was initially called “La Sociedad por la patria y el Hogar” and then renamed Instituto Magnasco in 1920 in honour of Dr. Osvaldo Magnasco because he supported the founders’ work unconditionally. 

“Camila Enriqueta Nievas” Private Technical Training School was opened at the Institute on September 26th, 1967 and the main objective is to train people in technical skills.

There is a room which has artworks from Angentinian and foreign artists and some pieces from Bellas Artes National Museum as well as historical and uncommon instruments. You can also see a collection of antique coins and medals from many countries of the world. The museum has a room dedicated to illustrating and documenting the history of Gualeguaychú. Another room has historical documents and a flag used in the Battle of April 15th 1870. Regarding religion there are interesting images, documents, and clothes, among other objects.

Moreover, in the prestigious Olegario V. Andrade Library you can find more than sixty thousand magazines, newspapers, videos, cassettes and documents. There is also a complete collection of the newspaper “La Nación” from 1896 up to the present and another complete collection of an old local newspaper . In the historical Archive you can find interesting documents and the Golden Book which contains valuable signatures of presidents, judges, artists and recognized women. 

The Magnasco Institute is located at 78 Camila Nievas St. and the opening time is from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Today, there are recreational activities and cultural exhibitions of different kinds, as well as courses such as computer-assisted technical drawing.

Authors: Ramirez Sofia, Viale Agustina, Villalba Maria Cristina

Sources:

Barel de Franchini, Diola. Instituto Magnasco, 100 años de historia: tributo a Diola Barel de Franchini-1a ed. Buenos Aires: CM Editores, 2006. 

http://www.institutomagnasco.org.ar/?page_id=15

https://www.conabip.gob.ar/sites/default/files/Biografia_0340.pdf (March 9th, 2017)

https://www.diarioelargentino.com.ar/noticias/57883/el-sueno-de-camila-nievas-se-sigue-sonando-y-realizando-todos-los-dias (June 20th, 2006)

Almeida Museum

Biography

Manuel Almeida was born in 1915 in Gualeguaychú and was an enthusiastic collector and researcher of our land. He was a teacher who graduated from Olegario Victor Andrade School in 1943 and taught Paleontology and Archaeology History for 20 years in Sedes Sapientae Institute and the “Arqueología de Entre Ríos” course in Mariano Moreno School in Concepcion del Uruguay in 1982. He was 88 years old, when he died on July 26, 2004. 

Museum

The Museum of Natural Sciences and Archeology ”Profesor Manuel Almeida”, which opened on October 12, 1992, is one of the most popular and oldest museums in our city. It has eight thousand pieces, such as spears, harpoons, arrows, vases, masks, which belonged to the native people like Charruas and Guaranies who inhabited this area, dinosaur bones, dissected animals like turtles and birds, some fossils of extinct animals that inhabited the area and many objects that people used to cook, hunt and defend themselves. This place tells the history of the land in Gualeguaychú and its surroundings and, despite not being very big, it is well organized and you can see all these relics. In fact, one of the rooms is Professor Manuel Almeida’s office, with the instruments he used in his work as well as details about his life. Mr. Almeida's grandson is the museum guide and he tells visitors interesting stories about his grandfather. The museum was completely remodelled in 2019 and is now a space dedicated to scientific investigation, the conservation of paleontological, biological and archaeological collections, education and culture. 

Visits and tours

Timetable: Wednesday to Friday: 9am-12am and 3pm-7pm. Saturday: 6pm-9pm. 

Sunday: it only opens for programmed activities.

By Manuela Gerling, Matías Padilla and Tatiana Mantchoff.

Carnival Museum

The Carnival Museum opened on May 18th 2019. It is located in the Railway Station Park. The building was the old machinery room of the train station. Now its purpose is to restore and collect documents, pictures, costumes and many more objects that represent the history and culture of our carnival.

The museum has four galleries that people can visit. The reception is located in the exhibition hall where there are important items such as documents and costumes. In the other rooms there are conservation and restoration workshops, a museography workshop and a service area. There is also an administrative area with offices for the staff and a room for bibliographic consultation.

In one of the corners of the Main Hall, there is a section for the contemporary carnival where you can see different costumes from past and future carnival parades. This section usually changes because the costumes are constantly updated.

Next to the contemporary section, you can visit the most emblematic room; a 360° video room where you can see a lot of footage of past carnival parades. This gives the visitors a unique and close experience of the carnival culture.

The museum is open from 9 a.m to 10 p.m from Wednesday to Friday, and it is only open from 6 p.m to 10 p.m. on weekends.

By Rodriguez Joaquin, Suarez Adela and Villar Pía