Las Cuevas (Mendoza)
Coordinates: 32 ° 48 ′ 50 ″ S , 70 ° 2 ′ 59 ″ W.
Las Cuevas is an Argentine settlement in the Las Heras department in the Mendoza province .
location
Las Cuevas is located at 3151 meters in the valley of the Rio de Las Cuevas between the massifs of Cerro Tolosa and Cerro Santa Elena, the summit of Cerro Aconcagua is about 25 kilometers to the northeast.
The Ruta Nacional 7 runs through the village , the old route over the Paso de La Cumbre branches off from the route to the Túnel del Cristo Redentor immediately behind Las Cuevas . The distance to the provincial capital Mendoza is 210 kilometers, Uspallata is 88 kilometers to the east; the Chilean capital Santiago de Chile is only about 160 kilometers away.
climate
Due to the altitude and the location in a narrow, east-west oriented valley in an arid area, the seasons are extremely distinctive. While in summer (December / January) temperatures of 25 ° C and more can be reached, temperatures in winter (June / July) drop to −20 ° C; the average temperature in July is −2 ° C, in January 11 ° C.
A large part of the extremely low rainfall comes down as snowfall, the desert environment leads to considerable temperature fluctuations even during the course of the day.
Population and services
According to the 2001 census , only seven people lived permanently in Las Cuevas, the importance of which has fallen sharply since the railway line was closed and the Túnel del Cristo Redentor opened. Today the existing facilities (restaurant, souvenir shop) are mainly used by day tourists, the integrated Chilean-Argentine border and customs control for entry into Argentina takes place further east near the Puente del Inca . For the entry into Chile, the border controls take place west of the border tunnel.
