PLACES TO VISIT

The San Martin's Historical Museum
This museum was built on a lot purchased by General Jose de San Martin in 1818 to build a house, which he did. It holds valuable information about the great Libertador, the Ejército de Granaderos, and the crossing of the Andes mountain range.

Nuestra Señora de Loreto, de Mendoza's Cathedral
It is the oldest religious temples of the city. In the middle of the XVIIIth century a chapel dedicated to the Virgen de Loreto was constructed on this place. Much later, in the year 1858, a temple and seminary were built, but they almost vanished because of the 1861 earthquake. The current church was constructed the year 1875 and it was restored in 1957.

The church, covered by Travertine marble, shows a façade with three domes and has a rectangular plant. It has three vaulted naves and the interior decoration is of Roman baroque style. The altar has five saints and, naturally, Nuestra Señora de Loreto, stand out.

In 1920 Pope Benedict XV proclaimed the Virgen of Loreto as the Patron of Air Travel and Aeronautic Protector of the World and in 1934 the temple received the provisional title of Iglesia Catedral de Mendoza. The church faces the Sarmiento Square.

Sarmiento Square
It is an attractive square where trees and flowers live together in healthy competition. In its beginnings, in the XIX century, it was called the New Square, in opposition to the Old Square, which was the now called Pedro del Castillo Square. Then, in 1966, the Sarmiento Monument was placed there, and behind it a condor with extended wings, and its name was changed in honour of Faustino Domingo Sarmiento, Argentinean president between 1868 and 1874. He was a writer and a great educator.

The Municipal Aquarium
It contains fresh and sea water species from all South America. The most important are the Paraná River species, marine tortoises, sea horses, and a large quantity of lower invertebrates and vertebrates such as amphibian fish and reptiles. It was inaugurated in the year 1945 and now stands on Ituzaingo N° 1420. Tel.: (0261) 425-3824.

The Serpentario or Snake House
It exhibits Sauria and alive serpents such as the anaconda, the python, the boa and coral snakes, among others of diverse size and inside glass cabinets. A signal on each glass-case indicates the origin of the reptil and whether or not it has a poisonous bite. It is situated opposite the Municipal Aquarium. Both establishments are close to what is called Foundational Area.

The Bernardo O'Higgins Park
This Park has the name of Chilean hero Bernardo O'Higgins, who fought for the independence of his country together with Don Jose de San Martin; it extends along Ituzaingo street from 1400 to 1800. Here we find tree gardens bordered by irrigation ditches, old trees, and a children's playground.

Along Cordoba Street, crossing the park, we can see the Teatro Gabriela Mistral, with an outdoors stage where shows are given, especially during summer nights. The park runs parallel to the Canal Cacique Guaymallen.

The Canal or Zanjon Cacique Guaymallen
This wide and high flow canal runs along the border of the Foundational Area, towards the City of Mendoza. It is the last flood receptor of the Mendoza River, it has a length of approximately 30 kms, and after feeding several irrigation channels, it takes its leftover waters to the Lavalle Department.

It was built by the Incas. The Huarpe Indians, who were a part of the vast and ancient Inca Empire, called it Potu del Inga or River of the Inca. Irrigation ditches that bathed the lands of various caciques started here. Currently, the canal flows on closed in by concrete walls and it is crossed by various bridges.

Nuestra Señora de la Merced Church.
It is a beautiful temple that stands out for its dome. It shows a harmonious façade with two truncated towers, and walls handsomely decorated with brick mouldings. It was built at the end of the XIX century and the beginning of the XX century. It is located in a vast lot on Monte Caseros St, between Cordoba and San Luis Sts. From O'Higgins Park there is a very beautiful view of the church.

San Martin Pedestrian Street
It is located in the block enclosed by the Avenida San Martin, Peatonal Sarmiento and the 9 de Julio Street. It was built at the end of 1920 in the style of the great pedestrian roads of the time. We find there the first commercial gallery and the first apartment building of Mendoza.

It is built of reinforced cement and until 1954 it was the tallest building in Mendoza. It has a seven-meter-tall tower lit up by a thread of light to mark its identity. It has beautiful French stained glass windows with flower motifs.

Independencia Square
It is an impressive garden that extends for four blocks full of fields, eucalyptuses, cypress trees, palm, magnolias, hardwood trees and acacias, ordered according to an aesthetic pattern, and forming the centre of an area with a series of promenades, governmental buildings, and four more squares: España, Italia, Chile and San Martin.

Located opposite Peatonal Sarmiento and enclosed by Patricias Mendocinas, Chile, Espejo and Rivadavia streets, from there we can also reach Sarmiento Street. This square has important social life and stands out for its artistic ways and the different shows it offers.

It was the Main Square of the Ciudad Nueva or New City, designed in 1863 by the French land surveyor Balloffet, two years after the earthquake that devastated the region. It was remodelled in 1941 and 1995.

Under the square we find the Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Arts) and the Teatro Municipal (Julio Quintanilla Municipal Theatre). Facing the square we find the Independencia Theatre, the Agustin Alvarez State School, the new hotel built on the old Plaza keeping the original façade, and the Provincial Legislature. From Thursday to Sunday there is a handcrafts fair next to the Calle Patricias Mendocinas Street.

Its only artistic monument is a semicircular fountain with a frieze alluding to the Independence of the Virreinato del Rio de la Plata from the Spanish crown. It has a children's playground and public services.

In the XIX century important public buildings were constructed opposite the Square such as the Government House, the Provincial Legislature and, later, the National College, the Plaza Hotel, and the Independencia Theatre.

Sarmiento Walking Street
This promenade is integrated to Independencia square and walking along it we find the noble building of the Provincial Legislature (at the corner of Patricias Mendocinas streets) and the Santiago Apostol Parochial Church and the San Nicolas church (on Sarmiento N° 100).

It was built in the year 1989 and gardens, pergolas and plots with seasonal flowers prevail there. For that reason it is an ideal spot for a walk or, if you wish, to sit in a pretty café, a coffee and pastry shop, an ice-cream parlour or a restaurant with its outdoor tables and sunshades. Every weekend there are outdoor artistic shows

Agustin Alvarez National School
It was founded in the year 1865, although its actual buildings date back only to 1905 and 1910. It is the school with more tradition in Mendoza. Many generations of the province have been raised there. Its name is a homage to the city's dearest citizen.