Calingasta has fully rugged topography (hilly), as its location is at the foot of the Andes, where the mountains are complemented with its main highest elevation, the mountain Mercedario (6,720 meters), after Aconcagua and it is possible to highlight an area precordillerana lower height as the first with numerous mountain cave highlight the Sierra del Tontal.
In the 18th century the present Church of la Merced was erected with drawings attributed to Mercedario Friar Pedro de Ávila and conducted by master builder Pascual Somarriba.
It was first ascended in 1934 by Adam Karpiński and Wiktor Ostrowski, members of a Polish andinist expedition led by Konstanty Jodko-Narkiewicz.