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San Juan, Argentina
San Juan is the capital city of the Argentine province of San Juan in the Cuyo region, located in the Tulum Valley, west of the San Juan River, at above mean sea level, with a population of around 112,000 as per the .
It is a modern city with wide streets and well drawn avenues with wide sidewalks and vegetation of different species of trees irrigated by canals, (therefore its nickname oasis town).
It has an important accommodation infrastructure and transportation. It highlights modern buildings and the surroundings, the reservoir and Ullum dam, spas, museums, large plantations of vines, and various types of agriculture, with wine being the most important.
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 Jufre 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 Juan was a sleepy, provincial town during colonial times (1562-1810) and took practically no part in the internal wars that devastated Argentina in its so-called Organizational Period (1820-1860.) Two of the most prominent members of the 1816 Congress of Tucuman which declared Argentina's independence from Spain, however, came from San Juan: Narciso Fernandez de Laprida, who was president of the congress, and San Juan's bishop Friar Justo Santa Maria 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 city son 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 Saenz Pena.
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 the earthquake of 1944, completely changed its appearance from a colonial one to one of most modern of country. With good drawn up and paved wide streets, ample paths with mosaic floor, an excellent forestation of bananas, moreras and paradises that are irrigated by channels (small drains).
The city is located within the Capital District, the plot of the same one is developed in form of draws into squares checkerboard forming a boundary by the streets Las Heras (that runs from North to South), 25 de Mayo (runs from East to West), 9 de Julio (runs from east to west) and the Guillermo Rawson Avenue(runs from north to south. These four avenues form a perfect rectangle made up of 16 blocks wide (going from east to west and vice versa -horizontally-)by 10 blocks long (going up and down or North to South and vice versa). 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, Cordoba Avenue, Avenue Libertador San Martin and Avenida Rioja. This area is considered to be the most densely populated and posess a great amount of tall buildings; it concentrates most of the commercial, financial and institutional activities.
The most 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 porque has the task of lodging people that is affected by an earthquake, the street Santa Fe, his circulation is for the west, por 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 Martin, 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 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
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 Tucuman 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 forestacion and is the step forced for the sanjuaninos and tourists.
Park of May In May
of 1910 when commemorating itself the centenary of the rebolucion 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 Martin and the Heras, has infantile games, an artificial lake with an island, fish and aquatic birds, a velodrome, kartodromo and sentenares of statues between the outstanding are the one of General San Martin, the one of Federico Cantoni (governor of the province) and the one of the monument to the sport..
Transport
The city has a modern infrastructure such as highways Avenue Ringroad, the South Access among others. This avenue has been within the urban perimeter, which is why a project is the construction of another ring covering the entire city. This might be termed as the Orbital motorway or dual carriageway, and that his movement will take the form surrounding the Great San Juan, as an orbit, preventing access by large trucks carrying inside the city. It also calls for tenders for the project through another rapid called South Corridor connecting San Juan (center) with the southern suburbs ((Rawson)
The urban public transport passengers from the City of San Juan consists of bus lines marked with numbers and letters (19 or 26A), linking the city centre with the various neighbourhoods and the rest of the Great St. John. In May 2007, the minimum cost of the ticket is $ 1.10 minimum. The city also has taxi service and remises.
The uncontrolled growth of the city means new means of transportation, so this study on the installation of trolley for ajilizar the current public transport which achieved unite the City of San Juan with the other major cities of the Gran San Juan. The routes would unite Chimbas-San Juan (Center)-Villa Krause and the other would Rivadavia-San Juan (Center)-Santa Lucia. Also on the proposed installation of trams by the City Council of San Juan, which would circulate the city centre.
Public transport long distance is addressed in the modern "Bus Terminal," with more than 6,000 sq metres over the area of platforms and platform of about 4,000 sq metres or so. Holds hall waiting for the local administration, ticketing, information office, police, first-aid room, telephone booths, shops, restaurant, kitchen and sanitary.
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport is located 15 kilometers from the city in the Department Nueve de Julio, more precisely in the village of Las Chacritas carried that name until recently. It is located at coordinates [display in an interactive map] 31 34'18 .70 "S, 68 25'23 .00" O. IATA Code: UAQ. This airport serves the airlift from San Juan was the city of Buenos Aires
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: Cordoba (585 km), Catamarca (623 km) and Buenos Aires (1110 km).
Tourism
Tourism to San Juan is centred on wine production and degustation 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, Albardon 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 Martin 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 a retort of the historical loom of Dona Paula, its mother, to whom Sarmiento makes mention in its book \"Recuerdos of Province \"..
Museum of Fine arts "Franklin Rawson" - Historical Provincial Museum "Agustin Gnecco"
There is located on the streets General Paz and Avenue G. Rawson. There one finds a valuable patrimony of paintings and sculptures, engravings and drawings of the biggest national teachers. In the second one are outlined elements related to the mode of the XVIIIth and XIXth century, Creole silverwork(silver), collection of numismatics and philately.
Museum Amid Read - House of the Tango " Carlos Gardel
The above mentioned museum is in keep silent General Mariano Acha between(among) Brazil and Manuel Belgrano About The tango and his evolution in the 20th century - Videoes - Conferences - Education of Violin and Bandoneon is the attractions that exist and the activities that are realized
External links
Municipality of San Juan - Official website.
San Juan Tourist Guide (English - Spanish - German)
San Juan Events Guide (Spanish)
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article San Juan, Argentina
