Ruta del Adobe

The Ruta del Adobe strings together the surviving earthen architecture of the Abaucán valley between Tinogasta and Fiambalá, a stretch of desert where mud brick was the only practical building material and where the results have stood for centuries. The route takes in the church of San Pedro at Fiambalá, with its whitewashed facade and painted interior; the Comandancia de Armas, an eighteenth-century adobe residence turned museum; the chapel of Watungasta; and old bodegas and houses with walls a metre thick, roofs of cactus wood and cane, and courtyards shaded against the sun. Together they show how a whole architectural tradition was built from the ground beneath it. Most stops are minutes apart, and the drive can be combined with the Fiambalá thermal springs.

What you actually see

• San Pedro de Fiambalá - the eighteenth-century adobe church and its painted interior.
• Comandancia de Armas - the colonial earthen residence, now a museum.
• The old bodegas - thick-walled adobe wineries along the valley.
• The building technique - metre-thick mud walls and cactus-wood roofs.

When to go

April to November for bearable temperatures; the valley is extremely hot in summer. Buildings keep short and irregular hours, often closing over the long lunch, so late morning is the safest time. The whole route takes a leisurely half day.

Honest expectations

Several buildings are locked outside limited hours, and there is little formal interpretation at most stops. The route is modest, and travellers who are not interested in vernacular architecture will find it thin. Distances are short but the heat is not.

Nearby

Fiambalá and its hot springs are at the northern end; Tinogasta anchors the south.