A Tour around the City

Founded in April, 1892 by Tomás Mason on the lands once part of his ranch called “La Malvina”, Santa Rosa is the capital and the main center of the Province of La Pampa with a sophisticated infrastructure and an array of services. This city has significantly grown over the last decades. What attractions shouldn’t you miss? Here, we go…

Once we arrived at the city on Route 5, the first thing we found was the city hall at the intersection between the main avenue and Pedro Luro Avenue. This is an area where there is a group of official buildings whose projects were drawn by the well-known Argentinian architect Clorindo Testa and erected between 1963 and 1970.

There we visited the Crafts Market, where there is a variety of high quality products made by artisans from the Province of La Pampa with materials such as leather, wood and wool. The utensils made of caldén tree (typical native tree species) wood are the most recommended items for visitors who want to get a souvenir from this city.

We followed San Martín Avenue, the main road, and we finally reached the square bearing the same name. This is the shopping and services center, where the cathedral becomes one of the outstanding buildings for its modern design. The façade consists of fourteen hexagons representing the mystical body of the church and twelve figures of the same size symbolizing the first Apostles. A bigger figure than the rest pierced by a cross representing Jesus Christ and another hexagon of a distinctive shape with a crown as a symbol of the Virgin Mary complete the composition.

As we walked towards Quintana and Pellegrini, we found the Provincial Natural Science Museum. It opened its doors on July, 9, 1935 and, later on, it was reopened on May, 25 1957. This venue has two large sections: one is home to natural science with a complete collection of regional fauna with a division for botany and the other one is home to historical archaeology with plenty of material related to indigenous communities and, specifically, the Conquest of the Desert. This museum treasures important material, mainly, the findings of the Casa de Piedra (Stone House) dated from 6670 BC, the cave paintings found in the Lihuel Calel hills as well as the engraving plaques in the Daza and Hucal Valley, which give testimony of the behavior and customs of the ancient settlers of the region.

Quite close, almost half a block away, we found the Municipal Cultural Center (174, Quintana Street), a venue where there are permanent exhibitions on display and the seat of various activities for the development of the social life of this city. This center has an auditorium which can accommodate 100 people and an artisans’ backyard. It also houses the Municipal Historical Archives.

Afterwards, we toured the Provincial Museum of Art situated on 9 de Julio and Villegas Streets, where visitors can be delighted with a collection of works of art made by provincial and national artists, such as, paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, engravings and photographs. Since the time it was raised, this building has served as the founder’s dwelling, a guests’ house, and later on, a kindergarten owned by the Teachers College for women and men, the atelier of some painters in the 60’s, the library of Teachers College and the venue of the Department of Soil Science until it was finally refurbished by the Undersecretary of Culture of the Province of La Pampa and the Center of Painters of the Province of La Pampa in 1987 with an aim to become the current museum.

Among the most iconic buildings in this city, we found the Spanish Theatre, located on 44, H. Lagos Street. It is open since 1908 and has one of the most stunning audience seating areas of the country. Its design is admired and recognized by artists from around the world.
Its building displays some design details such as the caryatids of the stage, the medallions of the arcade, the pilasters capitals and other Baroque ornaments. Here guests can enjoy zarzuelas (Spanish operetta), operas as well as concerts, theater plays and even conferences.

A few steps from the Provincial Council, we found the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, situated on Don Bosco Square. Opposite the sanctuary, there stands the chapel of the Thoughtful Christ, an image made of linden tree wood donated by the Polish community.

To end up, we headed northwards in search of the Carmelite Monastery. It is next to the Nazareth’s House. Here nuns live a cloistered life and visitors may talk with them in a parlor behind a grille.