Church and Convent of Santo Domingo

Located on the intersection of Gral. San Martín 96 West and Entre Ríos streets
Tel. 0264-4223125 / 4229025
Open Mondays through Sundays from 9 to 12a.m.
and from 6:30 to 8:30p.m.

This church was declared a National Historical Monument because when San Martín was in San Juan preparing the Andes campaign, in order to get to his cell he had to pass through the church first. There is a school adjoining the church. The governor of San Juan, Ignacio de la Rosa, was the person in charge of preparing the San Juan division of the Andes army. The museum harbors a large variety of exhibits including an urn containing the remains of may illustrious citizens who died during the earthquake of 1944. The church dates back to 1790, but the entire front of the building collapsed during this earthquake. The back part of the temple is original, but the front had to be rebuilt. The convent was founded by the Dominican friars in 1590. Friar Justo Santa María de Oro (first bishop of San Juan) studied here.

San Juan
San Juan, capital of the province of San Juan, was shaken by an earthquake in 1944 and was rebuilt on a modern design with a large number of parks and promenades. It lies 1,050km. away from the city of Buenos Aires along national routes No.7 (up to the city of San Luis) and 147. Another alternative is to travel up to Mendoza and then take route No.40 up to San Juan. The city harbors the natal homes of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Fray Justo Santa María de Oro. The province has important tourist attractions, the most traditional of which is known as the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley).