Uspallata is a village and administrative district in

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 ...

, in a scenic location on the road that crosses the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

between Mendoza and

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

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 ...

. It is located west of Mendoza and was once served by the now disused

Transandine Railway The Transandine Railway () was a combined Rack railway#Chile, rack (Rack railway#Abt, Abt system) and Rail adhesion, adhesion railway which operated from Mendoza, Argentina, Mendoza in Argentina, across the Andes mountain range via the Uspallata ...

which passed through the town on its way from Mendoza to Los Andes in Chile.

Features

There are several items of interest in and around the village including "las bovedas," somewhat strangely egg-shaped kilns dating from the early 17th century which were used to extract gold, silver, zinc, copper and other metals from minerals mined nearby. Worth a brief visit as they are only approx from town, complete with a small museum, notes include the fact that some of the refractory bricks can still be seen with "Rufford Stourbridge" from the English West Midlands stamped on them; a brief reminder of Britain's industrial heritage. The road to the Chilean border incorporates some of the most dramatic scenery in the region, the Andean mountains in this part being part of the backdrop of the highest peak out of the

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in both the Western Hemisphere and the ...

at almost above sea level. There is a brief glimpse of the stunning mountain from the road some distance from another point of interest, an ochre coloured bridge spanning the

Mendoza River The Mendoza River is a river in the provinces of Argentina, province of Mendoza Province, Mendoza, Argentina.

from Uspallata that seems to have been made from sulphur-bearing hot springs.

Geography

Climate

Uspallata has a

cold desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: BWk), with an average annual precipitation of . Summers have pleasant days and cool nights, and winters are chilly to cold, with the possibility of

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

fall.

Transportation

Uspallata is served by

Uspallata Airport Uspallata Airport (, ) is a public use airport located north of Uspallata, a small town in the Mendoza Province of Argentina. There is rising terrain to the north, and mountainous terrain in all other quadrants. The Mendoza VOR-DME (Ident: DOZ ...

References

Populated places in Mendoza Province Cities in Argentina {{MendozaAR-geo-stub