Mendoza’s renovated Museo Fundacional protects excavations of the colonial cabildo (town council), destroyed by an earthquake in 1861. At that time, the city’s geographical focus shifted west and south to its present location. A series of small dioramas depicts Mendoza’s history, working through all of human evolution as if the city of Mendoza were the climax (maybe it was). The Ruinas de San Francisco, across the Plaza Pedro del Castillo, are the sole remaining remnants of the city prequake.