museum of the industrial revolution (el anglo )

Do take the guided tour of El Anglo factory: it will take you through the slaughterhouses, kitchens and meatpacking rooms and introduce you to the rich history of this factory, at its peak called 'the kitchen of the world'. This factory tells the story of globalisation, of the industrialisation of our foodproduction ( including the development of chemical foodprocessing) and of the shifts in power following World War I. Our guide, Nicolas, added a human touch with anecdotes about his great grandmother who worked at the factory, about the impact of the factory on the local community and about the life saving quality of the corned beef tins. El Anglo is currently a candidate for Unesco World Heritage status. I can't think of a more worthy candidate.

Information about this museum is really hard to get hold of but you possibly know that already if you are reading this review hungry for some practical and simple information such as opening hours or price! We wanted to visit and searched for info but found out little. There seems to be no website or email address and we have no telephone to call ahead. The old Lonely Planet said it was open Monday to Saturday, the new Lonely Planet said it was open every day, a review on here said it was open everyday (but not the restaurant) and the lady in the Carmelo tourist office said it was open every day. So we figured that was enough evidence to head on up to Fray Bentos and take a chance. Bad move. Closed all day on Mondays. So please ring ahead... the number in the Lonely Planet is 4562-3690 but I have no idea if the number is correct.Practical info on actually getting to Fray Bentos may also be useful for you as it is also tricky to find info if you are in a different town... there is no cheap accommodation in Fray Bentos and we also couldnt find any in nearby Mercedes. So we opted to stay in Carmelo and do Fray Bentos as a day trip. We wanted to hire a car for the day but in Carmelo they were charging US $60 a day with mileage so limited you'd be hard pressed to get to Fray Bentos and back without exceeding it. There did appear to be a couple other car hire options but they didn't open Saturday or Sunday.If, like us, you are on a budget there is a bus option... there is one bus in from the South (we came from Carmelo) that gets you in at about 9.30am and one bus home that doesn't leave until 19.45pm... that is ten whole hours in Fray Bentos. So it is possible to bus in and out but a word of warning... without the museum there is absolutely zero in Fray Bentos for tourists. I always try to look on the bright side but unfortunately it really is a charmless town... sure it has parks and plazas and a rambla but all are a bit grubby and overgrown. Restaurants are distinctly average and without the museum there is nothing here you couldn't see in every other small town in Uruguay. Perhaps it is worth it for the museum but we will never know! Even with the museum 10 hours is probably too long in Fray Bentos.

If you take the afford to see more then the coastline you must defenitely go there. The museum is working their way up to the UNESCO heritage list. They deserve it. Till now you stroll around the whole complex to get a good idea how it was.

This historic community was once the heart of Fray Bentos, Uruguay. Today there is a museum, monument, and historic buildings for visitors to enjoy a glimpse of the past. This area is just southwest of the town of Fray Bentos. Known as the Anglo Barrio, its natural harbor gave birth to the town around 1859 on the cliff coast of the Uruguay River. It was a major port for the region and led to the development of the city. Guided tours are available and adjacent to the museum is a small restaurant offering local fare.

One of the best industrial museums that have been opened in South America. There is a growing interest in many different aspects of the history of immigrants in these countries. This factory has been saved just in time, and the enthusiasm of those involved in the project is commendable. They have put together a lovely little museum which together with a tour of the installations makes an extremely interesting and educational experience.

The museum, which once was the Liebig Extract of Meat Co., is proof to what man could already achieve a century ago. Be sure to join a tour and do not just visit the museum in front. During the tour you'll see the old machinery, the cold storage house and catch a glimpse of what this huge plant might have looked like and was capable of producing. I am a fan of old industrial architecture and this site therefore appealed to me very much, probably because it is a place that one does not find often anymore.

It is impossible here to reproduce the entire guided visit to the several buildings housing the cooling chambers, the slaughter house, the meat extract plant, the power generator, the washing area...I hope the place gets its nomination to be a World Heritage site. It is already a national Heritage site in Uruguay. Money would come in nicely to replace fallen roofs and present the plant in full form. There is an English-speaking guide who takes Mondays off. The guided tours take place every day at 10 a.m. and at 3 p.m. You must pay in Uruguayan pesos, and an entrance fee is 30 pesos whereas for the guided visits you pay a total of 50 pesos. No card accepted and no foreign currency either. The restaurant (Wolves) is also closed on Mondays. I am adding photographs to give readers an idea of what to expect.

It is difficult to rate this visit to the Museum of Industry. On the one hand, it is an extremely interesting and important place to visit, because one learns of the extremely high price of so-called progress and modernity. On the other hand, it is also an eery and overwhemingly depressing factory of death. The estimate is that 15,000 animals were slaughtered per week, and the factory was operative for over a century. This means that over 70 million living beings were slaughtered in this one place, sometimes not very humanely. Although cows were probably the most numerous victims, other animals such as sheep, pigs, turkeys, chickens, and rabbits were also slaughtered. Though Leibig is being taunted as a 'benefactor of mankind' for developing the process for producing meat extract, no one seems to remember all of the nameless creatures who were sacrificed in this place. This visit has become, for me, a way to remember all the creatures who lost their lives here and whose last cries still haunt the silence.

We visited the old Fray Bentos pie factory as a bit of a joke while we were in the area but the museum turned out to be genuinely interesting. The factory generated its own power and was the first place in Uruguay to have electricity. The staff were friendly and the exhibitions interesting - there were also English translations of some of the information.

El Anglo is as much an example of British industrial history as well as Uruguayan. Fascinating to wander around and see all of the product names that we are familiar with and the nameplates on the machinery - echos of our industrial heritage.For food/beverage - do try Wolves - good honest working-class fare.

Fascinating place. Note English tours are not available at weekends, only weekdays. TA want me to say more as they have a 50 character minimum for reviews. It is stll a fascinating place.

fray bentos is an evocative name for most british people over a certain age, bringing meat and meat products to the UK in the early to mid 20th century. Oxo cubes (made here) and fray bentos corned beef and pies (not made here) are famous names. They made hundreds of products here including other brands of corned beef and used every bit of the animal (not just cows). The power plant, office and exhibition were amazing. we drove 2 hours from colonia just to visit the museum and were not disappointed. The english speaking guide (blanca) and non- english speaking guide (jorge) were both fantastic, being so enthusiastic and helpful. The italian restaurant has closed so don`t expect to eat here. Our visit took 2 hours, blanca said a tour of the full site would take a further 2 hours, but that needs to be done at either 10am or 3pm.

We were there twice in December, really worth to visit. There are guided tours at 10 AM and 3 PM. Beware, there's no english guide anymore and the italian restaurant has closed !

Reviews of this site are in twice - once here and also at Museo de la Revolucion Industrial - the comments on both are good. This is the home of what was Fray Bentos. We are very familiar with this name having eaten the pies and extracts since childhood. It was a must see visit and we were not disappointed. The factory is now closed but many objects of interest are displayed in a large two level museum. In charge of this is a charming curator. He knew the history or had a story relating to every piece. On the top floor there is a recreation of how the offices operated at the time including loads of original pieces and even marks in the floor where one office worker kept moving his chair. Our tour also included the factory which is enormous and what was the factory managers house the Casa Grande. The former glory is gone - all is in disrepair - but our guide was knowledgeable and fun and gave us a fantastic idea of how it must have been. For tour guide information check first by ringing the museum - start times do not seem as advertised. To get there you really need to go by car - we combined this with a visit to Colonia where we hired a car so that we could drive there

Because I visited at the end of winter, I was the only visitor there. Mrs. Rios was so kind to give me a guided tour in English. A guided tour is a must because you'll be shown areas that can not be accesses if you would only visit the museum hall. The factory halls are just amazing; if work just ceased and the labourers are gone for the day. I traveled Uruguay for 3 weeks and still thinnk that El Anglo is one of Uruguay's star attractions. Also be sure to visit the small Itialian pasta place just outside the museum entrance. Wonderful food.