Mendoza - Parque San Martin
Friday 8 September 2006
(Mendoza Photos)

After my very educational visit to the top of Mendoza's city hall, I now felt quite orientated. I decided to head west to get a closer view of the mountains and explore the Parque San Martin, which appeared to take up a third of the city (these tourist maps are never quite to scale though). According to a museum guide, the Parque San Martin is the largest city park of its kind in South America. I think I understood that correctly. The park sits on the western side of the city and it was there that I decided to spend my Friday afternoon.

I could have walked... But, I have been fascinated by Mendoza's "troles" (trolley buses) since arriving and so it was about time I caught one. I was advised by the tourist office that "El Trole" marked "Parque" was the one that would take my by the park's main gate. The trolley routes are essentially loops, so you can climb aboard one and just go around and around to your heart's content. The buses themselves look like they have been around for a while. I think they may have been bought the fleet at a German used trolley bus sale. The stop request buttons say "HALT - Nur für den Fahrgast".


The park's main gates have an interesting story of their own. They were made in by a Scottish foundry around for Abdul Hamid II, a Turkish sultan. The sultan died before taking possession of the gates.The gates came to the attention of Emilio Civit, the then governor of Mendoza. The government then bought the gates. Originally the gates were adorned with the sultan's crown and a crescent moon. These were replaced with a condor and the shield of Mendoza.

The park covers about 307ha and is one of the most attractive city parks I have seen so far in Argentina. It is impeccably maintained and virtually spotless. The park was designed in 1896 by the landscape architect Carlos Thays, who is also responsible for various plazas and parks throughout the country. Within the park are just about every sporting club you could want - rowing, tennis, golf, equestrian, football stadium built for the 1978 World Cup, a velodrome... On the eastern side of the park is a 1km long, 100m wide gently curving lake, home to the massive Club Mendoza de Regatas. The lake also doubles as a reservoir, providing water for the park (they use a lot of water!). At the lakes southern end is the slightly out of place Mueso de Ciencias Naturales (Natural History Museum).

Further into the park is the city zoo and one of the park's main attractions, the Cerro de la Gloria (Hill of Glory) - a good little climb. At the top is a large monument to honor General José San Martin and his Army of the Andes. After San Martin helped to secure Argentina's independence from Spain (1810-1816) he set off with his army acrossed the Andes to Chile and then on to Peru to help their independence movements. There are also some good views east, across the city and west, to the foothills of the Andes.