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Coat of arms View of Bariloche from Nahuel Huapi Lake
Coordinates: 41°09'S 71°18'W? / ?41.15°S 71.3°W? / -41.15; -71.3
Established	1902
Government
- Intendente	Marcelo Cascón
Elevation	893 m (2,930 ft)
Population
- Total	130,000
Website	http://www.bariloche.gov.ar/

San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche, is a city in the  province of Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes, surrounded by lakes (Nahuel Huapi, Gutiérrez Lake, Moreno Lake and Mascardi Lake) and mountains (Tronador, Cerro Catedral, Cerro López). It is famous for skiing but also known for sight-seeing, water sports, trekking and climbing. Cerro Catedral is one of the most important ski centers in South America.

History

The name Bariloche comes from the Mapudungun word Vuriloche meaning "people from behind the mountain" (furi = behind, che = people). The Vuriloche pass was used by the Poyas to cross the Andes and was kept secret from the European priests for a long time.

Spanish mission

The first Spanish to visit the zone of Nahuel Huapi Lake was the Jesuit priest Diego de Rosales. Diego de Rosales was sent to the area by ordes of the of the Governor of Chile Francisco Antonio de Acuña Cabrera y Bayona who was concerned about the unrest of the native Puelches and Poyas after the slave hunting expeditions carried out by Luis Ponce de León in 1649. Diego de Rosales, who beginning a the ruins of Villarica in Chile, crossed the Andes probably trough Mamuil Malal Pass, He then travelled then further south along the eastern Andean valles until reaching Nahuel Huapi Lake in 1650.

In 1672 the Jesuits established in Chiloé Island founded a mission in the Nahuel Huapi Lake that lasted until 1717

Settlement

The modern settlement of Bariloche developed from a shop established by Carlos Wiederhold a Chilean immigrant that had settled in the area of Llanquihue in Chile. Carlos Weiderhold then crossed the Andes and established a little shop called "La Alemana" (The German) near the present city center after crossing the Andes from Chile.

A small settlement developed around the shop it was by 1895 primarily settled by Austrians, Germans, Chileans and Italians from the city of Belluno. It has been claimed that Bariloche got its name after the German-Chilean pioneer Carlos Wiederhold. In letters addressed to him, he was erroneously addressed as San Carlos instead of Don Carlos, which is why the city was called San Carlos de Bariloche. Most of the commerce in Bariloche went by the seaport of Puerto Montt in Chile. In 1896 Perito Moreno wrote that it took three days to reach Puerto Montt from Bariloche while traveling to Viedma in the Atlantic coast took "one month or more".

In the 1930s the centre of the city was built to have the appearance of an alpine town ("Little Switzerland") with many buildings made of wood and stone. In 1909 there were 1,250 inhabitants, telegraph, post office, and a road connecting the city with Neuquén. Commerce, however, continued to depend on Chile until the arrival of the railroad in 1934.

Between 1935 and 1940, the Directorate of National Parks carried out a number of urban works, giving the city a characteristic beauty. Among them: the Civic Center (home of a Library, a Theatre, a Museum, the City Hall, the Post Office, the Police Station and the Customs), the Cathedral, Llao Llao Hotel, and others.

The actual estimated population is 130,000 h (INDEC 2008)

Second World War

Bariloche made headlines in the international press in 1995 when it became known as a haven for former Nazi war criminals like the former high ranking official of the SS 'Hauptsturmführer' Erich Priebke who had been living there for years. Former Mauthausen extermination camp nazi doctor Aribert Heim could still be hidden there according to Simon Wiesenthal Center.^[1]