Colón is a city in the . It is located in the east of the province, on the western shore of the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( ; ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La Mesopotamia from the other two countr ...

, and has about 23,000 inhabitants (). It lies opposite

Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital and most populous city of the Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Located on the banks of the Uruguay River, it is the country's List of cities in Uruguay, fourth-largest city and a vital cultural and economic hu ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, to which it is linked across the river by the General Artigas Bridge. The city was founded in 1863 by General

Justo José de Urquiza Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860. Life Justo José de Urquiza y García was bor ...

, former ''

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...

'' of Entre Ríos and then the first

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

President of Argentina The president of Argentina, officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation, is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Argentina, the national constitution, the president is also the Head of go ...

Overview

Colón is the center of an important

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

region. Though it is a relatively small city, it features high-quality

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s, a

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

, and camping sites. It also has

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

s and associated facilities. The neighboring towns allow for small-scale historical sightseeing, since they were mostly created as agricultural colonies by

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

(especially from

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

). In the Colón area (about 60 km from the city) lies the

El Palmar National Park El Palmar National Park (in Spanish, ''Parque Nacional El Palmar'') is one of Argentina's national parks. It is located on the center-east of the province of Entre Ríos, midway between the cities of Colón (54 km) and Concordia (60 ...

, a large reserve of Yatay

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

s ('' Syagrus yatay''), informally known as ''Palmar de Colón''. The '' Palacio San José'', former country residence of General Urquiza and now a national monument, is also near Colón, closer to the city of

Concepción del Uruguay Concepción del Uruguay is a city in Argentina. It is located in the Entre Ríos province, on the western shore of the Uruguay River, some 320 kilometers north from Buenos Aires. Its population is about 80,000 inhabitants (). History The city ...

History

The city was founded by General

on 12 April 1863.Historia de Colón
on Turismo Entre Ríos As the city was bordered by the

it became a commercial center, trading products that came from neighbor cities of Colonia San José, also founded by Urquiza himself along with Swiss and French immigrants that had arrived in 1857 and were engaged in agriculture and livestock. As the number of inhabitants increased, Urquiza thought it convenient to establish a new town near the region. Therefore on 26 August 1871 the creation of "Villa de Colón" was officially promulgated. It was bordered by Arroyo de la Leche, Arroyo del Medio, and Colonia San José. The "San Justo and Pastor" Church was established in 1876. After the reform of the Constitution in 1933, Colón became a first-class municipality.

Tourism

Colón is regarded as the "Provincial Capital of Tourism", due to the large affluence of tourists in the city. It has about 14 km of beach on the Uruguay River that form one of the largest beaches in the province. The "Parque Quirós" is an elevated

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

with a large variety of fields to practice several sports such as

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, among others.Parque Quirós
information It was built by national deputy (and then governor of Entre Ríos) Herminio Quirós as a sports center for the schools of the city.

Gallery

Costanera de Colon, Entre Rios.JPG, Avenida Costanera Biblioteca de la ciudad de Colón, Entre Ríos.jpg, Library Puerto viejo, Colón - 2.jpg, Sailboats at the port Camping Piedras Coloradas inundado.jpg, Camping Hostería en Colón - 1.jpg, Lodge Parroquia santos justoypastor frente.jpg, Santos Justo y Pastor Church

References

External links

* (Municipality)
Colón Turismo

Colón
on Turismo Entre Ríos * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colon, Entre Rios Populated places in Entre Ríos Province Uruguay River Port settlements in Argentina Populated places established in 1863 Cities in Argentina