San Juan, Argentina
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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 2001 census [INDEC] (over 450,000 counting the metropolitan area).
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[edit] History and architectury
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The old cathedral, an 18th century Jesuit style building, was destroyed in the 1944 earthquake, but has been replaced by a modern-Tuscan-romanesque building with a campanile.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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 (IATA: UAQ, ICAO: SANU) at coordinates is 12 kilometres southwest of the city, and serves regular flights to Buenos Aires and Mendoza.
[edit] 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.
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.
[edit] External links
- Municipality of San Juan - Official website.
- Municipal information — Municipal Affairs Federal Institute (IFAM), Municipal Affairs Secretariat, Ministry of Interior, Argentina.
- City info
- Earthquakes in San Juan
| Provincial Capitals of Argentina (by Province) |
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Buenos Aires • Catamarca • Chaco • Chubut • Córdoba • Corrientes • Entre Ríos • Formosa • Jujuy • La Pampa • La Rioja • Mendoza • Misiones • Neuquén • Río Negro • Salta • San Juan • San Luis • Santa Cruz • Santa Fe • Santiago del Estero • Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and The South Atlantic Islands • Tucumán |
