Tandil

TANDIL , 70km southeast of Azul, is set amongst the central section of the range of hills known as the Sistema de Tandilia . The range begins some 150km to the northwest of Tandil, running southeast across the province to Mar del Plata, on the coast, and only rarely rising above 200m. Around Tandil, however, there are peaks of up to 500m. This is not wild trekking country, but Tandil's hills - somewhat reminiscent of the landscape of Wales or Ireland - are good for activities such as horseriding and mountain-biking, with various companies operating out of the town. Tandil also has the quirky distinction of being famous for something that's no longer there. For many years, the enormous Piedra La Movediza (literally "the moving stone") rested at an inconceivably steep angle on one of the town's many rocky outcrops, before finally smashing to the valley floor eighty years ago. Such is the fame of this 385-tonne rock, many Argentinians think it's still there and the place where it once stood remains one of Tandil's most-visited spots. The town's most famous remaining stone is the impressive but not quite so precarious El Centinela , a seven-metre high boulder perched upright on a small hill some 5km southwest of the town centre.   Rocks aside, Tandil is famed for its Vía Crucis procession (stations of the cross) each Easter, which ends at Monte Calvario, a small hillock topped by a giant cross to the east of the town centre. It's also a popular weekend destination and has a lively and enjoyable feel in the evenings, thanks to the bustle of holidaymakers and locals strolling around the town centre. The Town   Many of the streets in Tandil's attractive town centre are cobbled with stones quarried from the surrounding sierra. Its central square, Plaza Independencia , is located on the site of the old fort and is overlooked by the rather grand municipalidad and the Iglesia del Santísimo Sacramento . An imposing but somewhat ungainly building, the church was completed only in 1969, forty years after construction began. Best described as neo-Romanesque in style, it was inspired by Paris's Sacré Coeur - hence the unusual elongated domes which top the three towers. The streets surrounding the plaza, in particular 9 de Julio, have a pleasant bustling feel, particularly in the evenings, when they are filled with people out for a stroll, or sitting outside the cafés and ice-cream parlours. To the northwest of the plaza, on the corner of San Martín and 14 de Julio, is one of Tandil's oldest buildings, a simple, white construction which originally functioned as a staging post and which now houses the Epoca de Quesos - a kind of delicatessen and bar where you can try local specialities such as salami and cheese. At Chacabuco 357 half a block south of Plaza Independencia, the Museo de Bellas Artes (April-Nov 5-8pm; Dec-March 6-9pm; free; tel 02293/432067) puts on temporary exhibitions of works by local artists and has a permanent collection which includes minor works by Berni, Pettoruti and Quinquela Martín, three of Argentina's most famous twentieth-century artists.   To the south, Tandil's streets slope down towards Parque Independencia . The park's entrance, on Avenida Avellaneda, is marked by the twin towers of a mock Venetian palazzo while its central wooded hill is topped by a kitsch Moorish castle. A road snakes around to the summit of the hill, from where there's a clear view over the city - not a particularly stunning sight during the day but given a bit of drama at night when the strikingly regular streets of the town are lit up. There's a pleasant bar on the hill, the Morisco , which has occasional live music. Heading down the slopes of the park to the east will bring you to Lago del Fuerte and Dique del Fuerte , a large artificial reservoir built to retain the water which runs off the sierras. You may see the odd person swimming, but a dip in the lake's rather polluted waters is probably best avoided; head instead for the cleaner municipal swimming pools at the southern tip of the lake. Local bus #500 runs to the Dique from 9 de Julio. To the north of the town centre, at 4 de Abril 845, is the Museo Fuerte Independencia (April-Nov 3-7pm; Dec-March 4-8pm; $1), a handsome old building housing a staggeringly large collection of artefacts donated by locals. Slightly disorganized, the museum is still a pleasant place to wander round with some interesting curiosities to be seen, such as the poncho worn by Tata Dios , a local curandero (healer) who was believed to have stoked a bloody revolt in 1871, launched by the disaffected native rural population - many gauchos amongst them - against recent European immigrant settlers. During the revolt, 36 land-owning immigrants were killed and Tata Dios was arrested and imprisoned for provoking the revolt. He was later assassinated in prison - the poncho on display in the museum has a (not terribly visible) blood stain. There's also a good selection of photographs showing the development of the town and some examples of the huge ox-drawn carts or chatas used to transport cereals around Argentina; the enormous wheels in the courtyard come from a chata and are the largest in the country.