La Rioja, originally founded in 1591 by Juan Ramirez de Velasco, is made up of old and new and most places of interest tend to be bunched around or close to either the Plaza 25 de Mayo or the Plaza 9 de Julio. The Catedral San Nicolas de Bari, which houses the Peruvian carved image of St Nicholas of Bari, stands on the south side of Plaza 25 de Mayo while to the west is the attractive neo-classical Casa de Gobierno. Just one block to the east of Plaza 25 de Mayo on Pelagio B Luna with La Madrid is early 17th-century Iglesia Santo Domingo which survived the 1894 earthquake while its convent was largely destroyed. Also on Pelagio B Luna at 802 is the Museo Folclorico, the main feature of which is the reconstruction of a typical Riojano house complete with kitchen, furniture and other paraphernalia, open Tues-Sun 9am-12 midday and 5pm-9pm. At the Museo de la Ciudad on the same avenue, number 250, you can learn about the history of La Rioja while the Museo de Ciencias Naturales in the grounds of the Universidad Nacional de La Rioja boasts a collection of fossils from the province including those of Riojasaurus Incertus, a dinosaur which inhabited the area over 200 million years ago. North of the plaza stands Iglesia San Francisco, and the room where San Francisco Solano stayed in 1592 has been kept intact with his portrait and a dead orange tree which he planted. Also worth a visit is the Museo Arqueologico Regional Inca Huasi on Juan B Alberdi 650, home to a fine collection of Diaguita pottery and other pre-Colombian artefacts, open Tues-Sun 9am-midday.