Sights in Northwest Argentina
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Cripta Jesuítica
Built at the beginning of the 18th century by the Jesuits, the Cripta Jesuítica was originally designed as a novitiate and later converted to a crypt and crematorium. Abandoned after the Jesuit expulsion, it was demolished and buried around 1829 when the city, while expanding Av Colón, knocked the roof into the subterranean naves and built over the entire structure. It remained all but forgotten until Telecom, while laying underground telephone cable in 1989, accidentally ran into it. The city, with a new outlook on such treasures, exquisitely restored the crypt and uses it regularly for musical and theatrical performances and art exhibits. Entrances lie on either side of…
reviewed
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Museo del Cablecarril
The fascinating Museo del Cablecarril and cablecar station documents an extraordinary engineering project that gave birth to the town of Chilecito at the beginning of the 20th century. To enable the mining of gold, silver and copper from the Sierra de Famatina, a German firm was contracted to construct a cablecar running from here, at the end of the railway line, to La Mejicana, at an altitude of 4603m, more than 3.5km above Chilecito and nearly 40km away. With nine stations, a tunnel and 262 towers, the project was completed in 1904. Men and supplies were carried to the mine, operated by a British firm, in four hours. WWI put an end to this Anglo-German cooperation and…
reviewed
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Pucará
The reconstructed pre-Columbian fortification, the pucará, is 1km south of the center across an iron bridge. Its situation is undeniably strategic, commanding the river valley both ways and, though the site was undoubtedly used before, the ruins date from the 11th to 15th centuries. The 1950s reconstruction has taken liberties; worse yet is the earlier, ridiculous monument to pioneering archaeologists bang where the plaza would have been. Nevertheless, you can get a feel of what would have been a sizable fortified community. Most interesting is the ‘church, ’ a building with a short paved walkway to an altar; note the niche in the wall alongside. The site itself has…
reviewed
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Parque Nacional Calilegua
Receiving 1000mm to 1800mm of precipitation a year, but with a defined winter dry season, Calilegua comprises a variety of ecosystems. The transitional selva (jungle), from 350m to 500m above sea level, consists of tree species common in the Gran Chaco, such as deciduous lapacho and palo amarillo. Between 550m and 1600m, the cloud forest forms a dense canopy of trees more than 30m tall, punctuated by ferns, epiphytes and lianas, often mist-covered.
Above 1200m, the montane forest is composed of conifers, aliso and queñoa. Above 2600m this grades into moist grasslands, which become drier as one proceeds west toward the Quebrada de Humahuaca.
The 230 bird species at home in…
reviewed
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Casa de Joaquín V González
One of Argentina's greatest educators, and founder of the Universidad de La Plata, lived in the Casa de Joaquín V González.
reviewed
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Catedral
The enormous and spectacular neo-Byzantine 1899 catedral contains the image of patron saint Nicolás de Bari, an object of devotion for both riojanos (people who live in La Rioja) and the inhabitants of neighboring provinces.
reviewed
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D
Museo Histórico Provincial Marqués de Sobremonte
It’s worth dropping into this museum, one of the most important historical museums in the country, if only to see the colonial house it occupies: an 18th-century home that once belonged to Rafael Núñez, the colonial governor of Córdoba and later viceroy of the Río de la Plata. It has 26 rooms, seven interior patios, meter-thick walls and an impressive wrought-iron balcony supported by carved wooden brackets.
reviewed
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E
Museo de la Memoria
A chilling testament to the excesses of Argentina’s military dictatorship, this museum occupies a space formerly used as a clandestine center for detention and torture. It was operated by the dreaded Department of Intelligence (D2), a special division created in Córdoba dedicated to the kidnap and torture of suspected political agitators and the ‘reassignment’ of their children to less politically suspect families.
The space itself is stark and unembellished, and the walls are covered with enlarged photographs of people who are still ‘missing’ after 30 years. There’s not much joy here, but the museum stands as a vital reminder of an era that human-rights groups hope…
reviewed