Samay Huasi (from

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...

''Samay Wasi'', ''samay'' rest, to rest, ''wasi'' house,Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha, La Paz, 2007 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary) "rest house") is a historic property in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

functioning as both a vacation retreat, as well as a museum.

Overview

Located in

Chilecito Chilecito (lit. Little Chile) is a city in the Argentina, Argentine provinces of Argentina, province of La Rioja Province (Argentina), La Rioja, and head of the departments of Argentina, department of Chilecito Department, Chilecito. Overview an ...

, a town located high in the Pampas Sierras of La Rioja Province, the property originally belonged to William Treloar, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

mining engineer Mining engineering is the extraction of minerals from the ground. It is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying. A mining engineer m ...

who purchased it as a retirement property in the late 19th century. His earlier profession had acquainted him with Dr.

Joaquín V. González Joaquín Víctor González (March 6, 1863 – December 21, 1923) was an Argentine educator, political scientist, writer, magistrate, and politician. Biography Early life González was born in Nonogasta, a rural community near Chilecito, ...

, who was one of the nation's most prominent Mining Law attorneys, and had been Governor of La Rioja from 1889 to 1891. Treloar bequeathed ''La Carrera'', his scenic

finca ''Finca'' () is a Spanish term for estate. In English usage, it refers to a piece of rural or agricultural land, typically with a cottage, farmhouse or estate building present, and often adjacent to a woodland or plantation. Overview Especial ...

, to his friend, and González inherited the property in 1913. The new owner kept Treloar's

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s and

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s, expanded the living quarters, converted the horse stables into ten bedrooms for each of his sons, and renamed the finca ''Samay Huasi''. González, who served as president of the

University of La Plata The National University of La Plata (, UNLP) is a national public research university located in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It has over 90,000 regular students, 10,000 teaching staff, 17 departments and 10 ...

from 1905 to 1913, in turn willed Samay Huasi to the university, and died in 1923. The University of La Plata formally took possession of Samay Huasi in 1941, and originally maintained it as the ''Casa de Descanso para Artistas y Escritores'', a vacation lodge for artists and writers; the lodge was later reserved of university staff. A portion was set aside in 1960 for the establishment of a museum displaying González's collections of

anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour, wh ...

and

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

material, as well as his numerous manuscripts (he published over 50 books and 1,000 articles), and other belongings. The museum was named ''Mis Montañas'' in honor of González's 1903 book describing the nearby

Talampaya Talampaya National Park () is a national park located in the east/centre of La Rioja Province, Argentina. It was designated a provincial reserve in 1975, a national park in 1997, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. Location The park prote ...

area and other

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

landscapes. Samay Huasi also houses an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

, the Antonio Alice

Pinacotheca A pinacotheca (Latin calque, borrowing from = + ) was a picture gallery in either ancient Greece or ancient Rome. The name is specifically used for the building containing pictures which formed the left wing of the Propylaea (Acropolis of Athen ...

. Named for Antonio Alice, an Argentine portraiteur and historical painter who (among many other works) had created a portrait of González in 1917, the gallery displays art from a variety of

Argentine painters Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

Notes

References

Ente Municipal de Turismo de Chilecito. Museo y Sitios de Interés: Museo Samay Huasi

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samay Huasi, Museo Houses completed in the 19th century Museums in La Rioja Province, Argentina Tourist attractions in Argentina Houses in Argentina Museums established in 1960 Art museums and galleries in Argentina University museums in Argentina Natural history museums in Argentina Literary museums in Argentina Biographical museums in Argentina Historic house museums in Argentina National University of La Plata