Mendoza
Gates of General San Martín Park
Mendoza is a city in the west of Argentina, and the capital of Mendoza Province. As per the 2001 census it has about 111,000 inhabitants, plus 848.660 in its metropolitan area, making it the fourth-largest conurbation in Argentina.
Mendoza is on a major road between Argentina and Chile. It is a frequent stopover for climbers heading up Aconcagua (the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere) or for other mountaineering, hiking, horseback riding, rafting, and outdoor activities. In the winter, skiers come to the city for its easy access to the Andes.
One of the main industries of the Mendoza area is wine making. Another large industry is olive oil production.
History
Mendoza was founded in 1561 by Pedro del Castillo. Here José de San Martín organized the army with which he won the independence of Chile and Peru.
In 1861 a severe earthquake destroyed the city and killed at least 5,000 people. The city was rebuilt, and included new antiseismic urban designs, with large squares and wider streets and sidewalks than any other city in Argentina. San Martin street, and five main equidistant squares, are examples of that design.
Culture
The grape harvest is marked each year by the Vendimia festival, taking place in early March, in which 17 beauty queens (one for each provincial departament) are nominated, and one winner is selected by a panel of about 50 judges. The queen from Mendoza City cannot be chosen because she acts as host for all other queens. Mendoza City proper does not have vineyards.
Mendoza has an intense cultural activity, and the city is a main center for professional congresses and meetings. There are several museums, the main ones being the Museo Cornelio Moyano (a natural history museum) and the Museo del Área Fundacional (Foundation Area Museum, historical). In Maipú, 15 km southeast from Mendoza, there is the Museo Nacional del Vino (National Wine Museum), which focuses on the history of winemaking in the area. In Mayor Drummond, 14 km south from Mendoza, there is the Emiliano Guiñazú - Casa de Fader art museum, hosted in an 1890 mansion where many walls have paintings by the artist Fernando Fader.
Climate
Mendoza has very dry summers with wetter winters. Average temperatures for January (summer) are 35 °C (95 °F) during daytime, and 23 °C (73 °F) at night. For July (winter), the average temperatures are 12 °C (53 °F) and 3 °C (38 °F), respectively.
Transportation
Mendoza is 1,037 kilometres from Buenos Aires (14 hours by bus) and 380 kilometres from Santiago, Chile (6 hours by bus). Mendoza also has an International Airport. It takes less than 2 hours to fly from Buenos Aires and less than 1 hour from Santiago, Chile.
The Mendoza public transport system includes buses, trolleybuses and taxi-cabs. The trolleybuses are more comfortable than the city buses, but are slower and not as widespread.
Transandine Railway
Mendoza developed partly because of its position at the beginning of the Transandine Railway linking it to Los Andes in Chile. This line is currently out of use, but there are plans to restore it in summer 2007.
The Transandine Railway is a metre gauge line, with sections of rack, whilst the railways it links are both broad gauge. A journey from Buenos Aires to Chile involved a break-of-gauge, and therefore a change of train, at Mendoza.