San Martín, Mendoza

San Martín is a city in the north-center part of the Mendoza Province. It's the capital of the San Martín Department and constitutes, with Palmira and La Colonia, the third-largest metropolitan area in the province.

History

The first San Martín inhabitants were the Huarpe Milkayak people and the territory was governed by the tribal chief called Pallamay until 1563, when the first Europeans under the command of the captain Pedro Moyano Cornejo, arrived to the area.

The city was known as "Rodeo de Moyano" or, alternatively, as "La Reducción" (Spanish: "The Reduction"); but its name was changed by "Villa Los Barriales" in 1816, when it was included in the Corocorto Priesthood of Mendoza Province and officially established by the Governor of Mendoza, Toribio de Luzuriaga.

San Martín came into prominence in the war of the Argentine independence period, when José de San Martín received an extensive land grant in the area to take advantage of agriculture and help the Chilean army of Bernardo O'Higgins and so prevent new Spanish invasions from Chile to Argentina. In 1823 the governor Pedro Molina changed the name of the city one more time by the present one in homage to the Argentine general [San Martín was the first city in South America named in homage to José de San Martín.] , who, besides his inestimable historical role, contributed many innovations to the local farming sector and in viticulture, paricularly.

In 1885, the first railway arrived in San Martin, uniting Buenos Aires with Mendoza and Chile. This development brought many Italian immigrants to area from Buenos Aires; during the 1950s and '60s, National Route 7 was built between Buenos Aires and Mendoza Province, converting the city into an important distibution center along the most important highway between Buenos Aires and Santiago, Chile.

References

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Notes

External links

*es icon [http://www.sanmartin.mendoza.gov.ar/ Official Site]
*es icon [http://www.acsanmartin.com.ar/ Atlético Club San Martín]
*es icon [http://www.vivisanmartin2004.com.ar San Martín Tourism Guide]