Pueblito Paisa

Nutibara Hill, known in Spanish as Cerro Nutibara, is a rocky hill in the geographic centre of the Aburra Valley, on the west bank of the Medellin River. It is about 80 metres tall, covers some 333,000 square metres and is one of the city's seven guardian hills. It is named after Nutibara, an Indigenous chief whose domains reached across much of western Antioquia. Earlier names included the Hill of Marcela de la Parra and later the Hills of the Cadavides, after a family that owned it. The municipality bought the land in 1927 to create a recreational park.

According to the Medellin city government, the idea for a replica village dates to 1975, when it was proposed as a monument for the city's tricentennial, and the architect Julian Sierra Mejia drew up the plans. Wikipedia dates the finished reproduction to 1977, while a tourism source gives an inauguration in March 1978, so sources differ by a year. The same tourism source says materials such as doors, casings and windows were salvaged from houses that were being demolished for the Guatape hydroelectric dam, though that detail is less well documented than the rest.

The replica is modelled on a typical turn-of-the-century Antioquian town. Around a central cobbled plaza with a stone fountain stand a church and rectory, the mayor's office, a barber shop and a one-room school house, with colourful doors, windows and balconies. Small shops sell crafts and snacks, and the layout gives a sense of the regional architecture without leaving the city.

Pueblito Paisa is described as a reproduction of the municipalities of the Paisa region. The Paisa region refers to Antioquia and the neighbouring coffee departments, whose small towns share white walls, tiled roofs and bright wooden trim.

Nutibara Hill has other attractions besides the village. A sculpture park was created in 1983 on the initiative of former President Belisario Betancur, with a permanent exhibition of sculptures by ten national and international artists installed in the natural setting and coordinated by the Medellin Museum of Modern Art. The open-air Carlos Vieco Theatre on the northern slope opened in 1984, was designed by the architect Oscar Mesa, and has a capacity of 3,800. It hosts popular shows and, in June, the International Poetry Festival.

The hilltop gives open views across the Aburra Valley and the city's towers. The hill is one of the few conserved ecosystems in central Medellin. A private guided stop here pairs well with other central sights, since the hill is only a short drive from the Old Quarter and Plaza Botero.