Current Time in Quilmes, Argentina

Quilmes lies on the southern edge of Greater Buenos Aires, on the flat shore of the Rio de la Plata, about twenty kilometres from the centre of the Argentine capital. The river here is so wide that the far bank is invisible, and its brown water laps against a wooded riverside strip of poplars and willows known as the ribera, a favourite place for weekend walks. The climate is temperate and humid, with hot summers, mild winters and river breezes throughout the year.

The city has a population of well over two hundred thousand, and the surrounding district more than half a million, making it one of the largest urban areas in Buenos Aires Province. It is a centre of commerce, services and industry, and it gives its name to the beer that is drunk across Argentina, brewed here since 1888 in one of the largest breweries in South America, whose blue and white label has become a national symbol.

The town's name recalls a tragedy. The Kilmes were an indigenous people of the Calchaqui valleys in the far north-west who resisted Spanish rule for more than a century. After their defeat in 1666 the survivors were marched some fifteen hundred kilometres across the country and settled on this riverbank, where most died of disease and hardship. The reduction established for them became a village, later a town, and the name endured. In the nineteenth century Quilmes attracted British, Irish, Italian and Spanish immigrants who founded the brewery, the railway and some of the earliest sports clubs in the country, and industrial growth in the twentieth century linked it firmly to the metropolis.

The centre is arranged around a large plaza with the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, surrounded by shops, cafes and pedestrian streets. The riverside is the most enjoyable part of the city, with parks, cycle paths, sailing clubs, ice cream shops and restaurants looking over the water, and the ecological reserve nearby protecting the reeds and birdlife of the estuary. Quilmes Athletic Club, founded in 1887 by British residents, is one of the oldest football clubs in Argentina and among the oldest outside Britain, and the local museums recount the story of the indigenous Kilmes, the immigrants and the brewery.

Life follows the rhythms of the greater Buenos Aires suburbs, with asados on Sundays, mate shared in the parks, football rivalries, tango and rock music, and pizzerias and confiterias serving late into the night. The city has a lively theatre and music scene and has produced many well-known Argentine musicians.

The Roca railway line carries commuters to Constitucion station in central Buenos Aires in around half an hour, and buses and the riverside motorway to La Plata provide alternatives, with the international airport an hour away. The National University of Quilmes, founded in 1989 and known for its pioneering distance learning programmes, together with technical institutes, serves the southern suburbs.

Quilmes matters as a historic riverside city with a memorable name, a famous brewery and a strong identity of its own within greater Buenos Aires.