Cuesta de Miranda is a 114-kilometer stretch of Route 40 connecting Chilecito with General Felipe Varela. Between narrow, deeply cut rock canyons, the road offers views of the valley and the RÃo Miranda. Alongside this landscape, Chilecito Department is home to historic houses, churches, industrial heritage and a winery.
A manor house with a garden and museum
In the district of San Miguel stands Samay Huasi, a manor house built at the beginning of the 19th century. After JoaquÃn VÃctor González acquired the building, he named it after the Quechua words for “house of rest.†The name and garden give the place different cultural points of reference.
The gardens include the Puerta de Micenas, a gallery featuring roughly carved monoliths of the seven Greek sages, and the Puerta Etrusca. The small museum houses archaeological, anthropological and paleontological collections, collections on minerals and natural sciences, and stuffed native birds. The garden, building and collections each have their own character, from the named garden features to natural sciences and archaeology.
Churches and religious traditions
The town of Sañogasta is home to the Church of San Sebastián, which is part of the Circuito de las Capillas. The first Chapel of San Sebastián was built at the end of the 17th century as a family oratory beside the Hacienda de San Sebastián. In Malligasta, the Church of the Immaculate Conception stands beside the main square and an adjoining cemetery, in a green setting with a colonial character.
The district of Anguinán is home to the Church of Santa Rosa de Lima, built in 1784. Santa Rosa is celebrated there each year on August 30 with great devotion, and religious festivities are held for the occasion. The specific program may vary.
In Vichigasta, the Church of San Buenaventura is considered the oldest church in Chilecito Department; it dates from the mid-17th century. Its original single-nave layout survives, along with thick adobe walls and a wooden roof structure of rafters and purlins. San Buenaventura is also part of the Circuito de las Capillas and was declared a National Historic Monument under Law 24,852 of 1997. Every year on July 14, the patron saint’s feast is celebrated with a procession in which worshippers carry the image on their shoulders.
Archaeological and industrial traces
The Centro de Interpretación TamberÃa del Inca presents the pre-Hispanic Casa del Inga. It is considered a political, administrative and ceremonial center of Tawantinsuyo, as well as the provincial capital of Kollasuyu. Its archaeological history adds to the insights into later churches and historic buildings.
The Fundición de Santa Florentina preserves ruins with walls, chimneys and remains of industrial facilities from the early 20th century. Another industrial trace is Station 2 El Durazno of the Cable Carril: its original structure survives, including the boilers and engine that powered the section between stations 1 and 2. The two sites illustrate different forms of industrial heritage, from ruins to preserved machinery.
Landscape, wine and specific stops
Quebrada del Agua Negra is a seven-kilometer natural corridor surrounded by mountains, suitable for trekking and photo safaris. Two hundred steps lead to the base of Cristo del Portezuelo.
For an insight into winemaking, Bodega La Riojana Cooperativa offers a tour of its central winery in Chilecito. The tour visits the facility, presses and fermentation tanks, and concludes with a wine tasting. Check tour availability before your visit, as details may change.
The experiences are quite distinct: Cuesta de Miranda is all about rock canyons and valley views, the churches about architectural history and religious traditions, and the Fundición and Cable Carril about industrial history. You can explore Chilecito Department according to the themes that interest you most.
Discover more destinations: Chilecito, Santa Florentina, Nonogasta, Famatina Department, Rosario Vera Peñaloza Department, Arauco Department, Independencia, San Blas de los Sauces Department.
Back to the main travel overview: La Rioja.
