When I first made up my mind to use my long holiday in Uruguay visiting my parents in law to visit Fray Bentos I couldn't resist the annoying thought of visiting a slaughterhouse as a vegetarian. It is still a part cultural history, I told myself. Thankfully, however, Fray Bentos has a lot to it other than its indispensable share of death toll. The city is situated about 300 kms or four hours drive from Montevideo (the Uruguayan capital) and about the same distance from Buenos Aires. It is next to the closest bridge connecting the two countries. The city isn't too big and you can easily walk from the city centre to Barrio Anglo which is the historic company town.

The cultural landscape includes not only the factory, but its adjacent buildings and the living quarters. You can book a guided tour to Casa Grande, which was a typical manager residence, or to the factory complex (we did both). You can also join a guided bike tour through the entire residential area including the historic tennis court and golf course. At the factory there is a little museum, but visiting it would certainly not suffice for an overview of the complex. The factory is very large and includes (apart from the slaughter room) several machine rooms, offices and a lab, all of which are open to visitors. Outside you can see the water pump and some cranes at the historic pier. The complex was very international at the time with employees from over 60 different countries. Its role in feeding soldiers in WWI and WWII so far away from the combating countries makes it clear why Fray Bentos was nominated for representing modern globalisation.

The site is extensive and worthwhile exploring. It is very well preserved and reasonably well maintained. Further work on the complex is also underway. I would recommend booking all three guided tours and dedicate a day to seeing it. We needed about 4 hours without walking to the more distant areas of the CL.