Parque San Martín

Thays-designed urban park with Andes views and rowing lake

Mendoza's great urban park sprawls across more than 300 hectares on the western edge of the centre, designed in 1896 by the French landscape architect Charles Thays — the same man responsible for Buenos Aires's Parque Tres de Febrero. A grand wrought-iron gate from the 1900 Paris World Exposition marks the main entrance. Inside, tree-lined paths wind past rose gardens, a lake with rowing boats, a zoo, and the open-air amphitheatre that hosts the Fiesta de la Vendimia harvest festival each February. The Cerro de la Gloria hill at the park's western end offers views over the city and across to the Andes, with a monument to the Army of the Andes at its summit.

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