Borges Maze in San Rafael

The Los Alamos estate in San Rafael is the place to visit the Borges Maze. The construction of the evergreen trail garden holds a literary symbology and seals the friendship between Susana Bombal and the writer.

The Borgian Labyrinth

At this hidden site in San Rafael, Borges spent long periods of rest with his friend Susana Bombal. The old room is from the year 1830, designed with an entire original fortified structure as a border area. Susana Bombal's family is one of Mendozas pioneers and carries an English line on her mother's side. Hence Bombal and Borges friendship began through their tastes for English literature and a similar upbringing. When Susana inherited the estate, she modernized it and became a cultural and meeting center for writers. The intellectuals of the time were regular visitors, such as Borges, Mujica Lainez, the Ocampo sisters. Susana's nephews kept the stay of extensive galleries that hold countless stories linked to Argentine literature and the pioneers of San Rafael.

Long before the maze project materialized, an English diplomat and a fan of the writer's short stories, Randoll Coate, met Borges and was admired and grateful for that encounter mediated by Susana. It came up with the idea of building a maze with live hedges as a tribute. Years later, the promoter of the Borgian promenade was Camilo Aldao, Susana's great-nephew, who previously sensitive the stories, the letters among the writers, the letters of Randoll, decided to carry on the maze of Borges and summoned the English designer, who at the time was already a doer of poetic mazes in European castles. Together they regained the design and drew the paths of the walk through which the name "Borges" can be read twice in mirror. In 2003 the work was completed and a particular friendship, of many years, between the writer and Bombal, the owner of Los Alamos, and Coate, the dreamer, was symbolically sealed. Today the plants measure around 1.80 m and visitors get lost in the garden of the trails and enjoy the magic that surrounds it. From a tower, as a modern mangrullo, you can see from end to end Coate's design and the homage to friendship. In addition, the enjoyment of the theme park includes the museum house, a cava to taste wines, a pulp shop and a living terrace to see the fall of the sun whoseno. Bombal St. Cuadro Nacional, San Rafael, Mendoza Phones: +54 0260 15 463-8780 info@laberintodeborges.com Hours: Monday to Sunday 9 am - 10:30 pm