Solar de los Castro Barros Historical Museum

Public Street no number 600m. away from the main park
Tel. 0827-94099 (public telephone booth)
September to April: open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 to 12a.m. and from 5 to 7p.m.
May to August: open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 to 12a.m. and from 3 to 5p. m.

Father Castro Barros represented the province of La Rioja in the Assembly of 1813 up to the one held in 1819. This is why a Remembrance Hall was built in this museum that was inaugurated in 1870 for the purpose of evoking his political career.
In his capacity of representative for the province of La Rioja at the Congress of Tucumán, he exercised the presidency when Pueyrredón was sworn in as Supreme Director and when Argentina declared its independence. He was also chosen to pray the Te Deum on July 9, 1916. In the ruins of the house where Castro Barros was born, which are now covered by a small church, one can appreciate a 17th-century figure of Christ, an image of Our Lady of Mercy that belonged to his family, and an 18th-century image of St. Barbara, patron saint of the Chuqui muleteers.
Another sector of the museum is devoted to the Diaguita culture. There are arrowheads on exhibition - which give the Chuquis their name (chuqui : flint which the Indians used to made their arrowheads). In another area of the ruins one can appreciate a rake used for leveling the land, a handmade padlock, a pillory dating back to 1783, raw hide trunks dating back to 1830, a sidesaddle, a big bottle for catching flies, and over 300 objects that offer insight into the past life of Chuquis and its culture.

Chuquis
The town of Chuquis is located 65km. away from the city of La Rioja on national route No. 75 and forms part of the department of Castro Barros. This picturesque little town with colonial architecture lies at the foot of the Sierra de Velasco and is surrounded by multicolored mountains.