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Mendoza (), officially the City of Mendoza (), is the capital of the province of Mendoza Province in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza had a population of 115,041 with a metropolitan population of 1,055,679, making Greater Mendoza the fourth largest census metropolitan area in the country.
Ruta Nacional 7, the major road running between Buenos Aires and Santiago, runs through Mendoza. The city is a frequent stopover for climbers on their way to Aconcagua (the highest mountain in the Western and Southern Hemispheres) and for interested in mountaineering, hiking, horse riding, rafting, and other sports. In the winter, come to the city for easy access to the Andes.
Two of the main industries of the Mendoza area are olive oil production and Argentine wine. The region around Greater Mendoza is the largest wine-producing area in South America. As such, Mendoza is one of the eleven Great Wine Capitals, and the city is an emerging enotourism destination and base for exploring the region's hundreds of wineries located along the Argentina Wine Route.
It is estimated that fewer than 80 Spanish settlers lived in the area before 1600, but later prosperity increased due to the use of indigenous and slave labor, and the Jesuits presence in the region. When nearby rivers were tapped as a source of irrigation in 1788 agricultural production increased. The extra revenues generated from this, and the ensuing additional trade with Buenos Aires, Viceroyalty on which it depended since its creation and transfer from the Captaincy General of Chile in Borbon reforms, no doubt led to the creation of the state of Cuyo in 1813 with José de San Martín as governor. It was from Mendoza that San Martín and other Argentinian and Chilean patriots organized the army with which they won the independence of Chile and Peru. Mendoza suffered a severe earthquake in 1861 that killed at least 5,000 people. The city was rebuilt, incorporating innovative urban designs that would better tolerate such seismic activity. Mendoza was rebuilt with large squares and wider streets and sidewalks than any other city in Argentina. The layout of the modern city was established in 1863, following the 1861 earthquake. It features a central main square surrounded by four smaller plazas, along with wider streets and sidewalks —such as Bartolomé Mitre Avenue and Sarmiento Avenue— designed to provide open space and better withstand seismic activity.
Tourism, wine production, and more recently the exploitation of commodities such as oil and uranium ensure Mendoza's status as a key regional centre. Important suburbs such as Godoy Cruz, Guaymallén, Las Heras and Luján de Cuyo have in recent decades far outpaced the city proper in population. Comprising half the metro population of 212,000 in 1947, these suburbs grew to nearly seven-eighths of the total metro area of over 1,000,000 by 2015, making Mendoza the most dispersed metro area in Argentina.
The Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia (The National Grape Harvest Festival) occurs in early March each year. Part of the festivities include a Beauty contest, where 17 beauty queens from each department of Mendoza Province compete, and one winner is selected by a panel of about 50 judges. The queen of Mendoza city's department does not compete and acts as host for the other queens.
In 2008, National Geographic listed Mendoza as one of the top 10 historic destinations in the world.
One common point of interest is the Teatro Independencia ("Independence Theatre"), the premier performing arts venue in Mendoza. Supervised by the nation's Ministry of Public Works, the project was commissioned to architect Alfredo Israel, and its plans were approved in October 1923. The theatre was, as were many public works of this type in Argentina at the time, designed in a French Academy style. Its façade included a Neoclassical frontis featuring four Corinthian columns on a green marble base, a rococo frieze, the provincial escutcheon in bas-relief, and a Baluster above. The design for the interiors was based on those prevailing in Italian opera houses, and the formal vestibule is overlooked by grand marble steps leading to the concert hall. The auditorium itself includes four tiers of balconies, and its seating capacity is 730. The theatre serves as the home of the Provincial Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, the theatre has received international personalities such as Erlend Øye and John Malkovich.
Mendoza is a popular place to learn Spanish, and there are a number of Spanish language schools, including Intercultural, Green Fields and SIMA.
The public transport system includes buses, the Mendoza trolleybus system, and taxis. The trolleybuses are more comfortable than the diesel buses, but are slower, not as numerous nor is the system as extensive. In 2008, TransLink of Vancouver, Canada, sold most of its old trolleybus fleet to Mendoza. Aged trolleys sold to Argentine city
A heritage railway, El Tren del Vino (The Wine Train), is being planned which will also provide local transportation; it will run through wine-producing districts of Mendoza.
The railway is a line, with sections of Abt rack, whilst the railways it links with are both broad gauge. A journey from Buenos Aires to Chile involved two break-of-gauge, and therefore two changes of train, one at Mendoza, and the other at Santa Rosa de Los Andes.
The subject of elevation is of much interest to the wine world because with increased altitude, the intensity of the sunlight increases. The role of this increased light intensity is currently being investigated by Catena Zapata's research and development department headed up by Laura Catena, Alejandro Vigil and Fernando Buscema.
Mendoza appears as the penultimate level of the 2021 video game Hitman 3. It contains hints of Argentine culture, such as mate, tango, and Winemaking.
In 1978 Mendoza hosted six matches of the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The six were played at the Malvinas Argentinas Stadium.
In 1982, Mendoza was one of the hosts of the 1982 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship. It was also the host of the 1994 Padel World Championship.
The city boasts multiple significant football clubs—Independiente Rivadavia currently plays in the Primera División, the top flight of Argentine football, while Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza plays in the second division. A club from the nearby city of Godoy Cruz, Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba, is also currently in the firsgst division.
International rugby test matches featuring the Argentina national rugby team have also been held in Mendoza.
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