Museo Arqueológico Profesor Mariano Gambier - Museum San Juan - Argentina

Walking down the Ruta 40 side road lined with metal warehouses, it’s hard to believe one of these could be home to Museo Arqueológico Profesor Mariano Gambier. This unrefined building doesn’t reveal the great riches displayed within. The eight galleries cover over 10,000 years if indigenous history if the San Juan area. Highlights include a dozen mummies (some over 7 millennia old), beautifully preserved textiles and baskets, petroglyphs, and bronze and gold metalwork of the Angualasto Culture. The museum also discusses the irrigation canals in the region, and trade routes with indigenous nations on the Chilean side of the Andes.

Location:

Ruta 40 (east side road, between Progreso amd Calle 5)

Museum Types:
Archaeology

Getting There

Catch city bus (colectivo) 49 or 50 from Mitre, between Caseros and Alberastain (every 20 min, 0.5 hr, $0.50); tell driver you want off for the Museo Arqueológico. When let off, walk 500 meters (0.3 mi) down the Ruta Nacional 40 side road.

Travel Tips:

Explanations are written in Spanish and English. Recorded guides are available in Spanish, English and Portuguese.

The museum is also a research center.

Price Description:

Adults $1.50, children under 10 years old free.

Relative price: Budget

Open Hours from:Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; weekends, holidays: March-November 9 a.m.-1 p.m., 5-9 p.m.; December-March 10 .m.-6 p.m.

Days Closed:Closed May 1, Christmas-New Year’s holidays

Travel Skills: None

You Need to Bring:

Visit the city’s other museums. Make a day trip down to the wineries in Pocitos, through the Zonda canyon, to Difunta Correa’s shrine. Spend another day soaking in the La Laja hot springs.

Currencies accepted
Argentine Peso

Contact Information:
Phone: 424-1424
URL: www.ffha.unsj.edu.ar/gambier.htm

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By Lorraine Caputo

Upon re-declaring her independence at age 29, Lorraine Caputo packed her trusty Rocinante (so her knapsack's called) and began...

Updated: 23 Sep 2010