Aves Maria Centro Comercial is one of only two modern malls in the southern Medellín suburb of Sabaneta. With the exception of the Exito store, the mall hasn’t been too busy the times I have visited except when I went recently during the holiday season.
The mall also had some vacancies when I visited recently. However, with the growth of Sabaneta — there are many new apartment buildings being built here — this should change rapidly.
There are several nice residential buildings located close to Aves Maria. In my last apartment search, my second choice was located in a building next to Aves Maria.
There are also some nice views to be had from the upper floor of the mall.
The Shops in Aves Maria
The anchor tenants of Aves Maria are Exito, a four-screen Cinemas Procinal movie theater and Gimnasio Uros gymnasium.
The Aves Maria mall has over 150 shops, which include stores selling clothes, shoes, home furnishings, mattresses, eye-care and several other categories.
Exito is a supermarket that also sells electronics, clothes, kitchen items and home furnishings similar to a Walmart in the United States. The Exito in Aves Maria has grocery prices that are somewhat lower than the prices found in Exito stores located in El Poblado.
Make sure to sign up for Exito Puntos (points). This is a frequent shopper program where you accumulate points that can be used to help purchase items on sale in the future. To sign up you just need an ID: cédula or passport.
An Exito savings tip is that fruits, vegetables and meats are 20 percent off every Wednesday.
Cinemas Procinal in Aves Maria is a movie theater with five screens. The movie theater is sometimes busy considering that I believe it is the only movie theater in Sabaneta.
In Medellín, Cinemas Procinal has six locations: in the Aves Maria, Las Américas, Florida Parque, Mayorca, Monterrey and Puerta del Norte malls.
The movie theater chain also has cinemas located in Apartadó, Bogotá, Barrancabermeja, Cartagena, Rionegro and Villavicencio.
Aves Marie has a Gimnasio Uros with the typical equipment you will find in gymnasiums. The gym recently added a new Crossfit room.
Gimnasio Uros also has another gym located in the Estadio barrio.
Food Options
Aves Maria has a food court located on an upper level with over 20 different options to choose from including fast food and restaurants.
You will find several of the typical fast food places in Medellín here. You will also find some restaurants in Aves Maria including A la Parrilla and So Happy.
Conclusions
Pro’s – It’s one of only two modern malls in Sabaneta and it’s a nice mall with an Exito for groceries, a five-screen Cinamas Procinal movie theater, a convenient food court, a Gimnasio Uros gym and several shops with good prices. There are also some apartment buildings nearby.
Con’s – There really is nothing found in the Aves Maria mall that you can’t find in the other malls in Medellín.
My Verdict – Aves Maria is smaller than the big malls found in El Poblado or Mayorca mall in Sabaneta and is not worth visiting unless you live nearby or are visiting Sabaneta.
How to Get There – You can take the Metro to the Sabaneta station and then hop on a bus route that costs 1,800 pesos and goes from the metro to Aves Maria. Or you can take a quick taxi ride from the metro station to the mall.
Thanks for covering this. Aves Maria is a nice mall that I have been to several times.
Aves Maria has been dead for at least the last 5 years as far as people going there to shop etc. I’ve pondered how the stores that have been open continuously and I deducted that the developers probably lease for little to nothing just to prevent it from becoming a ghost mall It should be noted that while the theaters screens aren’t real big and it isn’t a 5 star experience, on off peak nights 2 people can go and see anything on the board for 11k both tickets. If there’s a cheaper theater for new releases I’d like to hear of it. I remember seeing “Machete” one afternoon, and my wife and I had the theater to ourselves, which is NICE. The restaurants upstairs, So Happy and A La Parilla are decent food wise and offer nice views The top floor outdoor area with the stage I’ve never seen utilized as such is a mecca for the Sabaneta riff raff kids on the weekend nights, but not in the “I should hide my wallet in my shorts” vein. Hipster kids. So Happy has 2 or 3 for 1 cocktails, and with the view it’s a pleasant place to chill out and bring company without breaking the bank too bad. They’ll put whatever game is on tv up if you ask. It’s like a shitty Applebees. Not mentioned in the article is the seafood restaurant that’s next to So Happy. They have a bacon encased grilled salmon with arroz de coco and patacones plate that’s really legit.
Aves Maria was built by developers before the more recent apartment building boom in Sabaneta. That is why the mall has had many vacancies and hasn’t been too busy. But being the only modern mall in the area with all the new apartment buildings in the area I believe should change the situation in the mall. The Exito has been busy they just need to attract some more shops.
While it’s technically in Itagui I think, Mayorca is kinda in the area. Sabaneta’s problem (and by extension, Aves Maria’s) is what they’re going to do with the traffic when all these apartment complexes get filled.
Good description by all. now I am curious about the salmon dish. It is a safe 10-15 minute walk on flat roads to get to the mall from Sabaneta station. Its a nice walk when its not raining hard. During peak hours only one of the metro orange/green trains stops at Sabaneta. when going from way north in the city, I like to take the one that doesn’t stop because its less full and maybe can get a seat. then you get off at itagui and wait 3 minutes for the train that does stop there.