The Museum of La Paloma, originally the AFE station in Uruguay, is located in front of the accessible Bahia Grande beach, on Al Puerto Ave. It is a classic summer walk and during the rest of the year. The entrance is free.
The building still maintains the structure and characteristics of the train station; To explore its interior and the environment is to make a journey into the past.
Visiting hours
Everyday from 9AM to 5PM.
Going around the museum, what’s there to see?
When entering you can appreciate an exhibition of paintings done by the teacher and artist Martha Nieves (1926 - 2014), originally from San Carlos (Maldonado), but she settled in Rocha and La Paloma in 1948, living 66 years of her life in both cities.
The central hall invites you to a walk through the history of La Paloma, its urban evolution and the seaside resort Regulation and Extension Plan, commissioned to Architect Carlos Gómez Gavazzo (1904 - 1987) by the Cabo Santa María Society in 1938. His proposal presented outstanding spatial values at the time, whose major contributions resulted from the unitary spatial conception of the micro-regional territory, considering its great structuring and the design of public spaces: avenues, streets, pedestrian walks and passages in a gradation that tried (and in part, he succeeded in) giving the seaside resort an urban landscape and a unique environmental quality in the country and possibly in the world.
In this same room there is also a collection of old photographs of La Paloma.
In the adjoining room, called Juan Wiess, in honor of the Uruguayan scuba diver and engraver, you will be able to observe ancient instruments for diving (masks, oxygen tanks, harpoons, etc.), as well as a set of photos of the first surfers who arrived in La Paloma in search of its excellent waves.
In the last room of the tour through La Paloma Museum, there is information about the shipwrecks of the Rochenses coasts, events that marked history for our department. Also, pieces of wood and iron and articles of some of these boats such as a large pot of English origin, buoys, etc
New room of La Paloma Museum
In 2015 a new hall of La Paloma Museum was inaugurated, next to the old AFE station, where different exhibitions are held periodically.
