San Carlos de Bariloche Introduction Walking Tour (Self Guided), San Carlos de Bariloche

Through Independence Street, you will get to the Main City Square, which is the square of the Civic Center. It is called Desert Expeditioners Square. Due to its historical meaning and importance, it has become the top destination in the city. The main buildings of Bariloche are situated here: Provincial Police, Municipality, Tourism Department, Sarmiento Library, Patagonia Museum and Emilio Frey Exhibition Hall. There are also a couple of interesting wooden sculptures and the monument of the Julio Argentino Roca. The Civic Center is a National Historical Monument which faces the breathtaking Lake Nahuel Huapi.

The Francisco Moreno Museum of Patagonia is a natural history and cultural anthropology museum located in the Civic Center of Bariloche. It was inaugurated on March 17, 1940, as part of the unveiling of the Bariloche Civic Center, which was commissioned by the national government as part of an effort to promote the then-remote Río Negro Province ski resort town. The museum, and its accompanying Domingo Sarmiento Public Library and Bariloche City Hall, were designed by Ernesto de Estrada. Built from polished green tuff, cypress and fitzroya, with slate roofing, the buildings are centered by a plaza put down entirely in flagstone pavers.

The majority of its collections were requisitioned from the National Parks Adeministration by the museum's first director, Enrique Artayeta. Named in honor of Argentine surveyor and academic Francisco Moreno, the institution was organized in the tradition of the La Plata Museum, whose 1888 establishment was owed in large measure to the renowned explorer.

Expanded and modernized during a 1992 restoration, the museum's collections are divided by a number of categorized halls: Natural, Sciences, Prehistory, Aboriginal History, Regional History, The Conquest of the Desert, etc. The museum also includes a hall for temporary exhibits, an auditorium, workshop, library and archives, as well as facilities for curators and researchers.

The Bariloche Civic Center, including the museum, was declared a National Historic Monument in 1987.

At the corner of Avenida San Martin and Independence Street is the beautiful Sister Cities Square, the sister being Aspen, Colorado. It is located right behind the Municipal Tourism Department and the Post Office. There are many trees and flowers planted there. It is a romantic municipal park where lots of inhabitants and residents come to relax and chat.

Cultural Hall for Multiple Uses and Artisan Walk is an open public space. The building has an interesting shape and was designed by a team of renowned architects, among them Diego Iraola, lbandoz Alicia, Ivan Rivera Indarte and Alfredo Mulet. Here you can admire local arts and crafts. Lots of things are displayed on the walls and stands, some of them even for sale. What is also interesting is that a multitude of handmade items are also exhibited at the Cultural Hall for Multiple Uses and Artisan Walk.

Premier Gallery, situated in the Hotel Premier at Rolando Street, is a contemporary art gallery. It displays all forms of visual art made by local artists. Among them you will discover Perla Leon, Maria Rosa Lo Schiavo, Marta Di Bitetti, Victoria de la Torre etc. They mostly exhibit paintings, such as oil on wood, acrylic on canvas, sculptures, portraits and unusual art objects.

Flags Square is famous for the Paseo de las Colectividades (Walk of Nations) which is situated here. As you probably know, Patagonia and San Carlos de Bariloche are multinational and culturally diversified. They are two in one, namely a small grassy park with decorative stones and a square, where there are lots of flags, known as Flags square. It represents the nations that immigrated to the city, for example the Austrians. Flags Square is often a place for art exhibitions and it is the starting point of the Festival of the Communities.

If you are in a search of local crafts, than La Candela is the place to be. There is a large diversity of wood carvings on Patagonian cypress or rauli, interesting gifts and souvenirs, ornaments, candles, photo albums and photo frames, dried flowers, embroidered paintings, handmade products and lots of other items. If you want to buy something special as a souvenir, you will surely find it at La Candela.

Spain Square is a nice square situated at the crossroads of Ruiz Moreno Street and Bartolomé Mitre Street. It is mostly crowded with teenagers who ride their skateboards and chat. It is not big but very attractive. Charming benches, trees and flowerbeds, little children playing in the grass, what else do you need for a pleasant walk?

Bariloche Paleontological Museum was established by the Bariloche Paleontological Association. It is situated at the crossroads of October 12th and Sarmiento Streets. The aim of this institution is to preserve dinosaur fossils and to find new artifacts in the Bariloche area and the Northwestern Patagonia. A wide range of animal specimens is displayed at the museum, such as: Ichthyosaurus (Jurassic Period), dinosaur egg, the Archaeopterix, a shark (Tertiary), amphibians, flora and fauna from the Patagonian area, etc. Numerous exhibits are open to the public - don't miss them!