San Juan (city, Argentina)

San Juan is the capital city of San Juan province, in the central-west Cuyo region of Argentina, about 150 km north of Mendoza. The province has a large Triassic period fossil record, believed to be one of the largest in the world. See the Dinosaur Museum near Parque de Mayo.

Understand
San Juan is in a fertile valley surrounded by rocky mountains. Sixty-five percent of agricultural production is related to wine production. After the earthquake of 1944, San Juan completely changed, with new, wide, tree-lined avenues irrigated by small channels. The San Juan River has been dammed upstream to provide a regular source of water for irrigation and electrical power to the region at the Quebrada de Ullum Dam. A much larger Punta Negra Dam was built upstream from the Ullum Dam. San Juan is the birthplace in 1811 of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, former President and writer, famous for his struggle for public education.

Winter is mild, generally between 1° C and 18° C, while summers are hot and dry, between 25° C and 40° C.


 * San Juan Tourism website

Get in
San Juan lies on National Route 40 with Mendoza 168 km to the south and La Rioja 449 km to the north. National Route 20 leads to San Luis 323 km. Córdoba 585 km, Catamarca 623 km and Buenos Aires 1110 km.

Get around
The city centre is green and walkable, supplemented by an urban transport system of buses, a taxi service and remises.

Plaza 25 de Mayo is the centre and the two blocks north and east of it on Tucumán and Rivadavia towards Plaza Aberastain are somewhat pedestrianised, pleasant, with trees. Some other streets around that are also fairly quiet, but Libertador San Martín Avenue (RP7/RP14 running east and west two blocks north of Plaza 25 de Mayo) and Santa Fe (running west one block south of Plaza 25 de Mayo) are both more busy with multiple bus lines. A ring road had reduced traffic through the centre.

See

 * San Guillermo National Park and Provincial Reserve .jpg
 * Juan Victoria Auditorium Center
 * El Leoncito National Park. An internationally recognized Observatory
 * San Guillermo National Park and Provincial Reserve. Habitat of vicuñas and guanacos
 * San José de Jáchal – Iglesianos Valley
 * Cuesta del viento Dam
 * Alcázar Hill
 * El Leoncito National Park. An internationally recognized Observatory
 * San Guillermo National Park and Provincial Reserve. Habitat of vicuñas and guanacos
 * San José de Jáchal – Iglesianos Valley
 * Cuesta del viento Dam
 * Alcázar Hill

Do
Tourism here is centered around wine production and degustation, as well as the extraordinary rock formations in places like the Ischigualasto Provincial Park, also called the Valle de la Luna, 330 km from the city, and the Quebrada de Ullum Dam. The province has a large Triassic period fossil record, believed to be one of the largest in the world. See museum in centre near Parque de Mayo.

There is also the celebrated Mariano Gambier Archeology museum at La Laja, Albardón county, some 25 km from the center of the city. It concerns itself with the many cultures that inhabited San Juan from Pre-History till the arrival of the Spaniards in 1560. It has a priceless collection of Indian artifacts, cave paintings and other elements of agriculture and life in the Tulum valley from the last 8500 years. A curiosity is the Difunta Correa sanctuary. An unofficial popular saint, not recognized by the Catholic Church, for which some people in Argentina and Chile feel a great devotion. Sometimes crowds of 200,000 have been claimed. 64 km away from San Juan, on route 141.

Buy
Tabletas Sanjuaninas are the local version of alfajor (a national candy in Argentina). They can be purchased in local panaderias (bakeries) and some souvenir shops. They usually come in two varieties: with Dulce de Leche (milk caramel) or Dulce de Alcayote (a jam made of a local fruit).

Go next

 * Ischigualasto Provincial Park aka Moon Valley
 * Barreal: a village up against the Andes Cordillera