EASTER ZONE

This is an area full of old churches and particular attractions, Eastern Mendoza is a group of sedimentary plains in which we find two types of territory: The dry land, an area where prairies prevail, among ancestral villages surrounded by carob, arum and Chañar trees; and the oasis, with green crops, agro-industrial emporiums and dams with clear waters.

Two big rivers are born in the mountains and cross the plains: the Mendoza and Tunuyan Rivers. It includes the Santa Rosa, La Paz, San Martin, Junín, Rivadavia and Lavalle Departments.

Along the roads interconnecting these locations we can find wide deserts with wonderful true oasis with vineyards, fruit tree plantations, agro industrial complexes, and the mythical and prestigious wine cellars of this part of the country.

MAIPU

Is the capital of the department holding the same name and of part of Greater Mendoza. We can reach it driving along the National Route. It was declared a city on March 31st 1861, after the big earthquake, when it was meant to be a replacement for the devastated City of Mendoza. Its prestige transcends Argentinean borders because of its wine production.

The word "Maipu" comes, apparently, from "Mapu" or "Maipo" that means territory, or native site, while the word "Mapuche" means "people from this land". Maipu is also the name of another place 15 kms south of Santiago de Chile, and the site of a decisive battle for that country's independence. Maipo is also the name of a 5,323-metre-high volcano in the Andes Mountain Range, on the border between Mendoza and Chile.

The Religious Patron Saint of the city is Nuestra Señora de La Merced (Our Lady of Mercy), whose temple was finished in 1863, and whose pontifical crowning was carried out in 1961. The Virgin of Mercy a General of the Argentinean Army since 1812, during the North Campaign (that is why she wears army stripes and sash). Her festivity is joyously celebrated on the 24th of September.

Maipu is located at 804 m.a.s.l. The Mendoza River, embraces its cultivated fields, crossing the southern tip of the department and heading northwest down its lower course.

In Maipu, within few kms, there is a series of wine cellars that have become a living monument to this Mendoza passion and which make Maipu the unquestionable Cradle of Wine and Olives.

Using the latest technologies, these wine cellars now produce wines that are renowned around the world. But family establishments that make wine using ancestral techniques still exist.

In Osakis and Suarez Streets, for example, we find the Antigua Bodega Giol which, at the beginning of the XX century became one of the most important in the world thanks to the gigantic effort of Juan Giol and Bautista Gargantini. This classical cellar still occupies the original buildings with typical XIX century style. Inside we can find the historical barrel that was awarded a prize during the celebration of the May Revolution Centennial. Nowadays this ancient bodega is run by a cooperative.

A few metres away from the bodega, in the former "casa hacienda", we can find the Museum of Wine and Wine Making, in a French style building. Objects employed in the process of wine making and transportation are exhibited here, such as the presses, wooden casks, and whole workshop where barrels were produced.

North, along Pedro Vasquez Ave, we find the Bodega Lopez, a prestigious firm specialized in fine wine making. An Andalusian immigrant, Jose Lopez Rivas, founded it in 1886.

In Maipu we also find a Historical Museum with pre-Columbian artefacts that especially belong to the Huarpe culture, archaeological pieces, as well as the local historical archive. It is on Vergara N° 57, in the former house of Jose Alberto de Ozamis, one of the city founders.