The city of La Rioja rises at the foot of the magnificent Sierra de Velasco. La Rioja is characterized by a rugged geography, it presents a rare amalgam of mountains and plains, as well as its characteristic hills and valleys whose ocher color is nuanced by the varied polychrome of its plantations. Its building appearance presents the combination of the old and the modern, with low buildings, narrow streets, well-ornamented squares. The mall is active and mostly clusters around the main square.
It is located at the foot of the imposing Famatina massif of 6250 meters above sea level. The architecture of ChileI quote it is the result of the conjunction of the fin de siècle houses with modern constructions. Its central square has native plant species such as cardón, algarrobo, tusca, espinillo, visco, chañar, tala and broom. On Gob street. Jamín Ocampo, you will find the San Francisco Mill - Museum of ChileI quote, which shows archaeological, historical, paleontological and artistic pieces. The surrounding fields provide good harvests of grapes and other fruits, vegetables and nuts, whose subsequent processing is carried out by a modern plant. There are also regional wineries that produce wines of recognized quality. ChileI quote acquires importance at the national level for being the most important mining center of exploitation. Its current name is due to the great influence of miners ChileWe arrived in the late nineteenth century to work on the gold riches of the region.
It is located in the south center of the Province of La Rioja. Numerous manifestations of pre-Hispanic cultures that inhabited the area about 1.000 years ago, populate the reddish walls and rocks of Talampaya. A thirteen meter long natural mural populated with petroglyphs. Sedimentary deposits from the Permian and Triassic rich in fossils appear in the area, especially of large amphibians and reptiles. This gives the site worldwide relevance, being, together with Ischigualasto just a few kilometers away, one of the most important deposits of its kind in the world. The deep canyons, the valleys populated by curious figures carved by erosion, the colorful sedimentary strata, framed in a desert landscape of great beauty, added to the aforementioned values, give Talampaya an unmatched scenic importance. Along the Talampaya River canyon, there are ancient Algarrobo forests, framed between walls almost 100 m high, which give the landscape a unique attraction. The condors also find refuge there.
It was created to protect one of the most important paleontological deposits of representative vertebrates of the Triassic Period, America and the World. ? The area has a semi-desert and inhospitable aspect that has earned it the name of Valle de la Luna or Valle Pintado. In the past the landscape was inhabited by an exuberant forest of Acacias, Ginkos and Palmeras, tinged with lakes and swamps. The appearance of the Andes Mountains, barely 60 million years ago, totally changed the living conditions that existed during the previous 180 million years. Today that lush environment has given way to an arid region where erosion carved unique shapes. The brick-red sandstones, dotted with isolated greenish and ocher blocks, with escarpments and cliffs up to 200 meters high where the different strata, gigantic columns and fine obelisks can easily be seen, combined with canyons and gorges where streams and rivers run. in the summer, they form the framework of the Park. The Ischigualasto fields with their green, gray, black and red sediments, hide such a quantity and variety of fossils that they constitute one of the most important paleontological deposits in the world. ? The Ischigualasto Provincial Natural Park is considered one of the richest paleontological deposits in the world of Therapsid reptiles, those from which mammals would evolve. ? Almost the entire Ischigualasto area is made up of lands from the Triassic period, characterized by the absolute dominance of dinosaurs, which has contributed a varied range of fossil reptiles and their study has allowed an important advance in the knowledge of the history of the life. Numerous remains of both carnivorous and herbivorous reptiles have also been found in this area. The most recent find, that of the Coraptor, shocked science and is the oldest known dinosaur (228 million years old).