Travel guide to Argentina's Central Sierras

Lying about midway between the Andes and Buenos Aires, the province of Córdoba represents much that Argentina is known for, and is often thought of as the country’s heartland. Here one finds the stark juxtaposition of the flat pampas with the rolling sierras, the first mountain chain one encounters when moving west toward the Andes. 

Córdoba province

There are three chains of mountains in the western part of Córdoba province, all of which run parallel to each other, from north to south. They are the Sierra Chica in the east, the Sierra Grande in the center, and the Sierra del Pocho in the west. The Sierras de Córdoba are neither as high nor as extensive as many of the other mountain formations east of the Andes, but their easy accessibility, their beauty, their dry weather, magnificent views, and good roads, as well as the myriad of small rivers and watercourses, have established a strong reputation as an ideal environment for trekking, horseback riding, water sports, and fishing.

Added to these sporting options are opportunities to exploring the diverse settlements in the Punilla Valley, discover Jesuit architecture on the Jesuit trail and in Alta Gracia, and celebrate Oktoberfest or visit microbreweries in Villa General Belgrano.

The city of Córdoba, Argentina’s second largest, holds some of the country’s finest examples of colonial architecture, both secular and religious. One of the oldest cities in the country, it was founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera in 1573. 

Places to visit in Argentina's Central Sierras

Córdoba city

Córdoba, like most Spanish-settled cities, was designed with a rectangular grid of streets, with the main plaza (Plaza San Martín), the cathedral, and the main buildings in the city center.  The religious circuito (circuits being the various tours that are recommended by the city tourist office) covers most of the oldest colonial religious buildings. These include the Catedral, the church and convent of Santa Catalina de Siena, and the Iglesia de Santa Teresa y Convento de las Carmelitas.

Built on the original site of a small shrine, dating from 1589, the Jesuit complex was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2000. The group of buildings is made up of the church, the Capilla Doméstica and the living quarters. Originally it also encompassed the Colegio Máximo and the university, both of which are now national institutions. The church, La Compañía de Jesús, dates to the 17th century. One of its notable details is an arch made of Paraguayan cedar, in the shape of an inverted boat’s hull. The Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (Rectory of the University of Córdoba), opened in 1613 and is the oldest university in South America. Now a museum, the rectory includes the university library, as well as cloisters and gardens.

Another academic institution located within the Jesuit complex is the traditional Colegio Nacional de Monserrat (Monserrat National College), a secondary school which until 1998 was open only to boys. The Convento y Iglesia de San Francisco (Church and Convent of Saint Francis), Museo Histórico Provincial (Provincial History Museum), an outstanding example of colonial residential architecture, located in the last colonial mansion left in the city, and the Basílica de La Merced make up the rest of the Jesuit complex.  

A few blocks from the city center is La Cañada, the tree-lined canal that runs through town, a lovely place to walk in the evening or at quiet times of day. On Saturday and Sunday there is an art and crafts fair on the corner of La Cañada and A. Rodríguez. Pedestrian streets in the city center are lined with cafés, bookstores, and boutiques – all popular with university students. This is a good place to sit and relax, window-shop and people-watch. 

Punilla Valley

El Valle de la Punilla extends north from Córdoba city, wedged between the Sierra Grande to the west and the Sierra Chica to the east. RN38 cuts through the valley, connecting the key towns of Cosquín, La Falda, La Cumbre and Capilla del Monte. 

Cosquín is a quaint village famous for its Argentine and Latin American folk music and dance festival in the second half of January. Another 15km (9 miles) north along the narrow, well-paved road brings you to the village of La Falda, which holds a festival celebrating the folk music of Argentina’s immigrants, along with tango, in the first week of February. At other times of the year, golfing, swimming, horseback riding, and sailing can be enjoyed. Even if you’re just passing through, it’s worth taking a moment to look around the Parroquia Santísimo Sacramento, an Italianate church inaugurated in 1948.

About 11km (7 miles) further north lies La Cumbre, a popular tourist destination of 7,000 inhabitants that grew out of Estancia San Gerónimo, founded here in the late 16th century. It remained little more than a ranch until the 1870s, when British railway engineers, laying the tracks that would eventually link Córdoba and Cruz del Eje, descended on the area. Many of them decided to stay on, constructing lavish clubs and mansions that gave the town a reputation for “Englishness” which survives to this day. La Cumbre is also known for being (or at least for having been) the Argentine answer to California’s Big Sur: a remote haven for writers, painters, and musicians. This is reflected in the town’s seasonal events calendar, which has a cultural flavor, with art galleries and theaters open late on summer nights. Nonetheless, anglers are as thick on the ground as artists from November to April, when the Río San Gerónimo is open for trout fishing. 

The final stop on the Punilla Valley route is Capilla del Monte, 106km (66 miles) from Córdoba city. This photogenic town attracts campers, hikers, rock climbers, and… UFO spotters. The latter have been coming here since 1986, when a number of people reported having seen a large and luminous object hovering over Mt Uritorco, 3km (1.9 miles) from the town center. All manner of esoteric and new age services have taken root in the town since then, and people travel here from all over the country to have their minds and bodies “re-energized.”

Jesuit trail

If you enjoyed touring the Jesuit buildings in Córdoba city, it’s worth driving north to see some of the important estancias the order founded among the sierras. The tiny village of Candonga has an 18th-century chapel, the Capilla de Candonga, which was formerly part of the Santa Gertrudis Jesuit estancia. Ascochinga has the former Jesuit Estancia Santa Catalina, including a church and cemetery and the ruins of a seminary. The complex can be seen from outside (the key to the church can be requested from the caretaker) and is an exceptional example of colonial architecture from the early 18th century. 

The large town of Jesús María is also associated with the Jesuits. The Estancia Jesuítica San Isidro Labrador, one of the earliest vineyards in Argentina, on the outskirts of the town, comprises a church, a residence, and a museum exhibiting religious artifacts and colonial art. There is another former Jesuit school in town, the Casa de Caroya. The city also has a national festival of folklore and rodeo, held in the first half of January.

Alta Gracia

Another former Jesuit settlement is Alta Gracia, some 36km (24 miles) southwest of Córdoba city. This is a charming, prosperous town which welcomes tourists but is not overwhelmed by crowds. One of the main attractions is the Jesuit complex, a veritable jewel of colonial architecture, comprising the Iglesia de la Merced and the 17^th-century Residencia Jesuítica, which now houses a museum displaying religious art and other items relating to the Jesuit presence in the region. Alta Gracia is most famous for a more recent inhabitant, however. In 2001, the Museo Casa de Ernesto Che Guevara opened – the legendary revolutionary hero spent his teenage years here when a doctor recommended the town’s dry air for his asthma.

A short excursion into the hills behind Alta Gracia toward La Isla, on the Río Anizacate, leads over a passable dirt road, past small farms with spectacular views of the beautiful river. 

Villa General Belgrano

Villa General Belgrano is a town with a decidedly German character. Since the outbreak of World War II in September of that same year, the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee had been sinking Allied merchant shipping in the South Atlantic. On December 13, however, in what would become known as the Battle of the River Plate, a British naval squadron engaged and damaged the Graf Spee, causing her to retire to the neutral port of Montevideo in Uruguay. Deceived by false reports of heavy British reinforcements arriving in the area, the ship’s captain, Hans Langsdorff, ordered the vessel to be scuttled. He later committed suicide, leaving around 1,000 of his crew to be interned in Buenos Aires. 

In terms of world history, the story ends there. But not in terms of the history of Villa General Belgrano, a mountain village in Córdoba founded in 1930 by German immigrants. Around 125 of the Graf Spee’s crew found their way to the village, and some of them settled there. Their arrival greatly strengthened the town’s German influence, and many of the Bavarian-style, wood-frame constructions you see there today, some of them housing microbreweries or shops selling apple strudel, were built by the shipwreckees. As might be expected, the town celebrates an Oktoberfest during the first week of that month. 

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