The parks and squares in the city of Mendoza offer their visitants relaxing moments by means of close approaches to nature and culture. Just a few blocks away from the Executive Hotel in Mendoza, San Martin Park is one of the greatest options for a nice picnic in the core of the capital.

These days the General San Martin Park is one of the most beautiful in America. It is the symbol of the advance of mankind on the desert and tells a lot about the society in Mendoza, in its everyday efforts to achieve a better quality of life. In any time of year, this park is expecting us to give us secrets of nature that can only be discovered there with its natural, historical and artistic treasures.

During more than a hundred years the San Martin Park is one of the broadest urban parks in Argentina, both for its distance and proximity to the city of Mendoza. It currently spreads over 307 hectares, 17 kilometers of paths and 82 acres for expansion. It is a symbol that characterizes Mendoza’s people.

Since 1909 the main entrance to the park is marked by the gates, which are crowned by the figure of a condor and the buckler of Mendoza. The forest patrimony, with over 300 species from North America, Asia, Europe and Australia, has become a flora world, full of streets and roads specially constructed to make our travel more pleasant. We could think of the park as a large sculpture museum with more than 34 pieces that decorate paths and gardens. Tourists and visitors can choose restaurants, camping, barbecues, transport services and guided tours on comfortable minibuses.

Cuddled by a variety of roses and sculptural replicas we can find the Rose Garden, a French-style pedestrian path opened in 1919. Besides, its magnificent scene bases its splendor at the Park’s Lake, a work of major leisure that had its origins in 1906 and since then gives racing fans a place to practice this discipline.

In the late nineteenth century, after the earthquake of 1861, the people of Mendoza developed important health problems, like epidemics of diphtheria, cholera and rubeolas, and the city was affected by several inundations.

During the construction of the new metropolis, the prison house had been relocated within the perimeter of the town, only some miles away from the Executive Hotel in Mendoza, which also meant another negative element that needed urgent solution. In 1895, some legislators proposed the relocation of the penitentiary, the improvement of the alluvial defense by means of proper forestation and the study and treatment of health problems.