San Rafael is a city in the southern region of the

Mendoza Province Mendoza (), officially the Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the r ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. With more than 118,000 inhabitants (), it is the largest city in and the seat of San Rafael Department. The city is located 240 km from the provincial capital and 990 km from the federal capital. Natural attractions in the area include the Diamante River, which flows through the city, the rapids-strewn Atuel River just south and Lake Los Reyunos, 20 km (12 mi) west of San Rafael.

History

Spanish expeditions led by Francisco de Villagra from what today is

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

first surveyed the area in 1551 and, finding a well-established agricultural

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port List of cities in Chile, city, Communes of Chile, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, Chile, La S ...

and

Diaguita The Diaguita people are a group of South American Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people native to the Chilean Norte Chico, Chile, Norte Chico and the Argentine Northwest. Western or Chilean Diaguitas lived mainly in the Transvers ...

cultures, they rapidly subdued the existing peoples and expropriated the land. Displaced

Pehuenche Pehuenche (or Pewenche) are an Indigenous people of South America. They live in the Andes, primarily in present-day south central Chile and adjacent Argentina. Their name derives from their dependence for food on the seeds of the ''Araucaria ar ...

s revolted, however, and repeated attacks led to an 1804 treaty signed by Viceroy Rafael de Sobremonte whereby the Pehuenches ceded land to colonial authorities. The construction of Fort San Rafael del Diamante and its completion on 2 April 1805 marked the formal establishment of San Rafael. San Rafael remained relatively isolated from the rest of the country, long after independence in 1816. The area's agricultural potential and strategic location were eventually brought to the federal government's attention. In 1871, civil engineer Julio Balloffet was commissioned to oversee the development of San Rafael. His efforts were centered around needed public works, among which were civic buildings, schools, plazas, a hospital, cathedral and irrigation works. The irrigation canals were accompanied by an agricultural laboratory and a panel of agronomists and, by 1900, the San Rafael area fruit orchards had attracted a sizable contingent of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and Frenchimmigrants. This sudden prosperity led to San Rafael's formal designation as department seat in 1903 and, that November, the expanding

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

reach the city. The railways led to the local development of

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

industries, as well as to the town's designation as a "city" in 1922. The torrential Atuel and Diamante Rivers facilitated the construction of a number of important

hydroelectric dams Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also ...

in the area, bringing further prominence to San Rafael as an economic and tourist hub within southern Mendoza Province. The first, the Nihuiles Hydroelectric Dam, was inaugurated in 1953 on the Atuel River. The facility, which generates around 1000 MWh annually (today nearly 1% of the entire nation's), also resulted in the creation of a 9000 hectare (35 mi²) reservoir, bringing with it growing recreational tourism into the area. A similarly important work, Los Reyunos Dam, was built on the Diamante River, south of San Rafael, and inaugurated in 1984.www.losandes.com.ar
Los Andes The city, since 1968, has also hosted auto racing competitions at its La Paredes Autodrome, including numerous ones for Argentina's prestigious TC 2000

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

competitions.

Geography

Distances to other parts of the country

*Federal Capital 990 km * Córdoba (Capital) 705 km *

Neuquén Neuquén (; ) is the capital city of the Argentine province of Neuquén and of the Confluencia Department, located in the east of the province. It occupies a strip of land west of the confluence of the Limay and Neuquén rivers which form t ...

(Capital) 605 km *

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

(Buenos Aires) 1205 km * Mendoza (Capital) 236 km *

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

(Santa Fe) 860 km * San Luis (Capital) 273 km *Tucumán (Capital) 1290 km * Bariloche (Rio Negro) 1060 km

Climate

According to the Koppen climate classification, San Rafael experiences a cold semi-arid climate (BSk).

Gallery

File:San Rafael de noche..jpg, San Rafael's Downtown File:San Rafael's Cathedral.jpg, San Rafael's Cathedral File:Rio En Valle Grande San Rafael.jpg, Atuel's River on Valle Grande File:Plaza San Martin 2012.jpg, Plaza San Martin

References

External links

*
Diario San Rafael
{{Authority control Populated places in Mendoza Province Populated places established in 1805 Cities in Argentina 1805 establishments in the Spanish Empire