The Plaza 25 de Mayo is the social and geographical heart of La Rioja, a large shaded square lined with orange trees and flanked by the cathedral, the cabildo, and the Casa de Gobierno. Like most Argentine plazas, it comes properly alive in the evenings when the heat lifts and the city's residents emerge to walk, sit, and talk. At the weekend, the surrounding streets fill with stalls and the square is as good a place as any to spend a slow hour.
The blocks immediately around the plaza contain most of what the city has to offer: the cathedral, a few colonial buildings, and the commercial heart. The streets are organised on the standard Spanish grid and are easy to navigate on foot in the cooler parts of the day. The neighbourhood is compact enough that a morning's walk takes in everything.
La Rioja was founded in 1591 by Juan Ramírez de Velasco, and while little of the original colonial fabric survives in intact form — the city has been rebuilt and expanded repeatedly — the plaza and its surroundings retain a character that feels distinct from the larger Argentine cities further south.