Iglesia Candonga

Capilla de Candonga stands at the end of a nine-kilometer mountain road from El Manzano, surrounded by the Sierras Chicas rather than a town square. The single whitewashed nave has a barrel vault, a deep entrance arch between two buttresses, and a narrow three-opening bell wall. Inside, a masonry altar holds an old image of Our Lady of the Rosary.

José Moyano Oscáriz bought the former Potrero de Santa Gertrudis in 1720 and developed an estancia with orchards, a mill, livestock pens, a house, and this oratory. The chapel was likely built around 1730, although surviving evidence places it sometime between 1720 and 1762. The name Candonga, associated with draft mules, points to the area's role in the colonial mule trade toward Upper Peru. Architect Mario Buschiazzo restored the chapel in 1941, the same year it was declared a National Historic Monument. Check road and opening conditions before driving out.