The name Bariloche comes from the Mapudungun word Vuriloche meaning "people from behind the mountain" (vuri = 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 discovery and missions
The lake of Nahuel Huapi was known to Spaniards ever since the times of the Conquest of Chile. In the summer of 1552–1553 Governor of Chile Pedro de Valdivia sent Francisco de Villagra to explore the area east of the Andes at the latitudes of the city ofValdivia. Francisco de Villagra crossed the Andes trough Mamuil Malal Pass and headed then south until reaching Limay River.
Another early Spaniard to visit the zone of Nahuel Huapi Lake was the Jesuit priest Diego de Rosales. Diego de Rosales was ordered to the area by 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 at the ruins of Villarica in Chile, crossed the Andes probably through Mamuil Malal Pass, and then traveled further south along the eastern Andean valleys reached Nahuel Huapi Lake in 1650.
In 1670 Jesuits established in Chiloé Archipelago, led by father Nicolás Mascardi, entered the area trough Reloncaví Estuary and the mountain pass of Vuriloche to found a mission in the Nahuel Huapi Lake that lasted until 1674. A new mission in at the shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake was established in 1703 but was destroyed and burned down by natives in 1717. In 1766 the head of the Mission of Ralún tried to re-establish the mission at Nahuel Huapi; but was ultimately prevented by the suppression of the Society of Jesus in the lands of Spanish Crown in 1767.
Modern settlement
Despite having stronger connections to Chile than the distant city of Buenos Aires during most of the 19th century the
