Ambalema

de Antonio Castañeda Buraglia

Photographer and restorer Antonio Castañeda Buraglia presents a collection of artistic color photographs of the town of Ambalema, an historic commercial port alongside the River Magdalena in the department of Tolima. Architect Escovar Wilson-White describes the history and architecture of this unique place: "The geographical location of Ambalema is useful to understand its rise and decline. Its "enclosure" status prevented it from joining other markets. This condition changed during the boom of the tobacco industry, when navigation is imposed by the river and in 1893 with the arrival of the railroad. The economic activity linked with tobacco left in Ambalema several significant buildings. These buildings retain a glorious past who deserve a better future and that still, in spite of its sorry state, fall with dignity" (Our translation) --pp. 98-97. . The collection "Pueblos" is an historical-photographic editorial project comprising 32 numbers that document the history, population, environment and architecture of the same number of selected towns, one for each Department in Colombia.