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'San Juan' is the capital city of the Argentine province of San Juan in the Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valey, west of the San Juan River, and at 650 m above mean sea level, with a population of around 112,000 as per the (over 450,000 counting the metropolitan area).

Contents

History and architecture

Geography and climate

Urban aspect

Transport

Tourism

External links

History and architecture

Before the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores, the Huarpe Indians inhabited this area.
'San Juan de la Frontera' was founded on June 13 1562 by Juan Jufré at the shore of the San Juan River. In 1593 flooding damaged the town, for which reason its setting was moved 2.5 km South to its current location.
San Juán was a sleepy, peaceful place during colonial times (1562-1810) and took practically no part in the internecine wars that devastated Argentina in its so-called ''Organizational Period'' (1820-1860.) Two of the most prominent members of the 1816 Congress of Tucumán which declared Argentina's independence from Spain, however, came from San Juán: Narciso Fernández de Laprida, who was president of the congress, and San Juan's bishop Friar Justo Santa María de Oro, a Dominican friar and an eloquent speaker whose persuasive oratory was largely responsible for Argentina becoming a republic and not a monarchy like Brazil.
Probably the most important and famous son of the city was Fray Justo's nephew Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, whose birthplace was turned into a National Historical Monument in 1910, during the administration of president Roque Sáenz Peña.
On January 15, 1944, a powerful earthquake devastated the city, killing around 10,000 people and leaving half of the provincial population homeless. Another quake, 7.4 in the Richter magnitude scale, struck 80 km northeast of the city on November 23, 1977, causing considerable damage and killing 65 people around the province.
After the disaster of 1944, the city was reconstructed on concentric boulevards, with straight, well lit, tree-lined avenues and modern housing. It has mostly lost its colonial aspect, but retains an open, sunny Mediterranean look. San Juan possesses one of the most modern and active concert halls in Argentina, as well as many leafy parks and squares, including Parque de Mayo with its vast artificial lake.
The old cathedral, an 18th century Jesuit style building, was destroyed in the 1944 earthquake, but has been replaced by a modern-Tuscan-romanesque building with a campanile. San Juan is the seat of a Roman Catholic metropolitan Archbishop and a Catholic University.

Geography and climate

The city of San Juan is located in a fertile valley within a rocky mountainous area. Winter temperatures are generally mild, between 1 °C and 18 °C, while summers are hot and very dry, with temperatures between 19 °C and 35 °C.
Since very little rain falls in the region, the San Juan River has been dammed to provide a regular source of water to the city. The resulting reservoir is located in Ullum, and is known as the Quebrada de Ullum Dam. The dam also provides electrical power to the region.
Sixty-five percent of agricultural production is related to wine production.

Urban aspect

City of San Juan after that earthquake of 1944, completely changed its appearance of a colonial one to one of most modern of country. With good drawn up and pavimentadadas wide streets, ample paths with mosaic floor, an excellent forestación of bananas, moreras and paradises that are irrigated by channels (small drains). The city is within the Capital Department, the plot of the same one is developed in form of draws into squares checkerboard forming a boundary by the streets the Heras (located of North to the South), 25 of May (located of This a the west), 9 of Julio (located of this a the west) and the Avenue Guillermo Rawson (located of north to the south Dichas arterias(calles) conform a rectangle of 16 blocks of length by 10 blocks of wide, is same is downtown of San Juan. This rectangle, in its interior conforms a square of 7 blocks of length by 6 blocks of wide, that is "microsentro ", delimited by four avenues and are the Avenue Leandro N. Alem, Cordova Avenue, General Liberating Avenue San Martín and Avenida Rioja.Esté sector more densely is populated by the great amount of constructions in altura(edificios), concentrates most of the commercial, financial and institutional activities. The more important perpendicular streets are the street Mitre, whose circulation it has been for the east,en this street is cinemas and to cyber cafe, the Central Avenue called Jose Ignacio of Roza,se I construct after the ample earthquake,es to it and it has not been having to boulervar porqué has the task of lodging people that is affected by an earthquake, the street Santa Fé, his circulation is for the west, pòr where hundreds of lines of groups circulate and the commercial activity is intense, Rivadavia street, its circulation has been for the east, the section of two blocks an intense commercial activity is transformed into peatonal creating and General the Liberating Avenue San Martín, is the main movement route are supermarkets and are the leapfrog all of groups of Great San Juan. The more important parallel arteries have been the Mendoza street, their circulation is for the south and thus it unites to Villa Krause with the city, General street Mariano Acha and main the Rioja Avenue main arteries are the s. The most important sites are:

★ 'Cathedral'
Work of the prestigious mendocino architect Daniel Branches Strap, was inaugurated the 16 of December of 1979. The bell tower is a needle of 51 meters of height from its foundations with a viewpoint to 33 meters of the ground. It has aBig-Ben clock and a German carillon whose sones, every 15 minutes, accompanies the daily life by the city. To the temple it is acceded by a bronze vestibule worked in Faenza (Italy) with bas-relief of Santa Rosa of Lima, San Luis king of France, the Santiago apostle, Santa Ana and several shields and emblemas.En the subsoil of the church is cripta, the pantheon of the bishops and the chapel of Right Fray Santa Maria of of Gold.

★ 'Seat 25 of May'
Is the main seat of the City and constitutes a green space of colorful characteristics, also are the statues of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Right Fray Santa Maria de Oro with more than 100 years. The central source, that dates from year 1871, was remodelada in several occasions. The toads extractors are work of the escultor Miguel Sugo Angel.

★ 'Aberastain seat'
This seat pays tribute to the call to "Mártir of the Rinconada " Antonino Aberastain (1810-1861). He was lawyer and he was Governor of the province. This seat this taken care of very well and is characterized by its permanent hygiene and in the center is the statue of Aberastain.

★ 'Peatonal Tucumán and Rivadavia'
Are the most important stroll of the city, is where the commercial activity of different headings is concentrated in majority. They are wide and with excellent forestación and is the step forced for the sanjuaninos and tourists.

★ 'Park of May In May'
of 1910 when commemorating itself the centenary of the rebolución of May, is inagurado is green space, from comes its name there. Be lung of the city is in the intersection of the streets Reconciled Liberating General San Martín and the Heras, has infantile games, an artificial lake with an island, fish and aquatic birds, a velodrome, kartódromo and sentenares of statues between the outstanding are the one of General San Martín, the one of Federico Cantoni (governor of the province) and the one of the monument to the sport..

Transport

The city lays on National Route 40 that connects it with Mendoza (168 km) to the south and La Rioja (449 km) to the north, and is connected to the National Route 20, that leads to San Luis (323 km). Distance to other cities: Córdoba (585 km), Catamarca (623 km) and Buenos Aires (1110 km).
The ''Domingo Faustino Sarmiento'' at coordinates is 12 kilometres southwest of the city, and serves regular flights to Buenos Aires and Mendoza.

Tourism

Tourism to San Juan is centred on wine production and dégustation as well as the extraordinary rock formations in places like Ischigualasto National Park, 330 kilometres form the city, the Valle de la Luna and the Quebrada de Ullum Dam, at 18 km.
An integral attraction to the province is its large Triassic period fossil record, believed to be one of the largest in the world.
Another curiosity of sorts is the Difunta Correa sanctuary, 64 km kilometres away from San Juan, on route 141.
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 for the last 8500 years.

★ 'Museums'

★ Casa Domingo Faustino Sarmiento is located in General the Liberating Avenue San Martín and Sarmiento street. It was the first declared historical monument in our country, 1910. In this house it was born the illustrious educator and president of the republic, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, the 15 of February of 1811. At the present time it counts on 9 rooms, in which relics can be admired, furniture, commemorative photographies, medals, periodic and books written by Sarmiento in its original collections. In the central patio of the house one conserves a sprout of the fig tree and an retort of the historical loom of Doña Paula, its mother, to whom Sarmiento makes mention in its book "Recuerdos of Province "..

External links

★ Municipality of San Juan - Official website.

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★ City info

★ Earthquakes in San Juan