San Juan city travel guide

The provincial city, 177 km north of Mendoza, is much less inviting than the marvellous landscapes all around and you’re most likely to arrive here on the way to the Calingasta Valley or the parks further north. However, it’s a good base for organizing those trips as there are several good places to stay and eat, and some good bodegas for wine tasting. There’s also one sight of fascinating cultural interest in the shrine to pagan saint La Difunta Correa. Although the city was founded on its present site in 1593, little of the original settlement remains since the most powerful earthquake in Argentine history struck in 1944, killing over 10,000 inhabitants. Though it’s been rebuilt in modern style, San Juan has not yet recovered, unlike Mendoza. It was at a fundraising event at Luna Park in Buenos Aires for the victims of the tragedy that Juan Perón met Eva Duarte, the radio actress who became his second wife.