Points of interest in the city include the Park of the Nations, the neoclassical cathedral, a number of museums, including the Dora Ochoa De Masramón Provincial Museum, and examples of colonial architecture. A number of landmarks honour the Argentine War of Independence, as well. Independence Park features an equestrian monument to General José de San Martín, liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru. Nearby Pringles Plaza honours Colonel Juan Pascual Pringles, one of San Martín's chief adjutants and, briefly, Governor of San Luis Province.
National Route 7 connects San Luis to Mendoza, 255 km (158 mi) to the west, and Buenos Aires, 791 km (492 mi) to the east. San Luis Airport is located less than 3.2 km (2 miles) north of the city centre, and has regular flights to Buenos Aires.
By the end of the 19th century, San Luis had 7,000 inhabitants, and in 1882 the Argentine Great Western Railway reached the city on its way to Chile. The following year, work began on the cathedral. The Governor's Executive Building, designed in French renaissance architecture, was completed in 1911. The city's population reached 40,000 in 1960, and grew rapidly afterwards, when light industry and growing numbers of retirees began to migrate to the area; at the 2001 census [INDEC], its population was 153,322.
Because the city is located at the part of the Sierras Grandes known as Punta de los Venados (Deer Point), the inhabitants of the city are called puntanos.
Geography
San Luis lies at the foot of the Sierras Grandes, along the northern bank of the Chorrillos River, and is set on a dry pampas plateau, around 730 m (2,400 ft) above sea level.
Climate
San Luis has a humid subtropical climate (Cwa, according to the Köppen climate classification) and it closely borders a semi-arid climate (BSk). Summers are hot and humid, and winters are cool and dry, with temperatures falling below 0 °C (32.0 °F) sometimes and snowfalls can occur occasionally. The hottest month, January, has an average temperature of 24.0 °C (75.2 °F), and the coldest month, July, has an average of 8.9 °C (48.0 °F). The annual average temperature is 17.4 °C (63.3 °F).
^The record highs and lows are based on the Secretaría de Minería link for the period 1901–1960, while the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional source provides record highs from 1961-present.
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