CatamarcaWhattovisit

• SAN FERNANDO DEL VALLE DE CATAMARCA, CAPITAL COLONIAL
In the main square is the Casa de Gobierno and the Basílica Nuestra Señora del Valle. The church and the convent of San Francisco and the Calchaquí archeological museum are both worth visiting.
Other places of interest are the Museo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts) and the Museo Folklórico which has exhibits of the province's traditions. The town of El Rodeo is 38km away. Here the fruit trees and flowers give their names to the city's streets.

• THE INDIGENOUS CULTURES
In Andalgalá, you can pay a visit to the Museo Arqueológico Provincial which has exhibits from the indians of the region. The Pucará del Aconquija are the ruins of a native fort, with enormous pircas or dry stone walls and the remains of numerous dwellings. In the Museo Arqueológico y Folklórico in Santa María, at 1,900m above sea level, you can see exhibits from the Santa María culture. In Belén, at 1,240m, its Museo Regional has an important collection of archeological finds and colonial art.

• THE ROSA DEL INCA
or rhodochrosite, Argentina's semi-precious national stone is mined from the old site at Mina Capillitas.

•THE PUNA OF CATAMARCA
Antofagasta de la Sierra, at 3,500m, is surrounded by volcanoes, saltpans, lagoons with flamingoes, archeological sites and mines. Here you can visit the ruins of Incahuasi, an old gold-bearing deposit.

• Other places of interest
Tinogasta, surrounded by vineyards, altiplanos, high mountains and thermal spas like Las Higueritas. The adobe walled church of Fiambalá houses a collection of paintings of the Cuzqueño school. Very near here, are the thermal baths bearing the same name as the town. Londres with its tin mines and ruins of a native village. The town of Pomán was completely rebuilt after the earthquake in 1898.