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Santa Fe, Argentina

Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsanta ˈfe ðe la ˈβeɾa ˈkɾus]; usually called just Santa Fe, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is situated in north-eastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel that connects it to the city of Paraná. The city is also connected by canal with the port of Colastiné on the Paraná River. Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz has about 391,164 inhabitants per the 2010 census [INDEC]. The metropolitan area has a population of 653,073, making it the eighth largest in Argentina.

Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz is linked to Rosario (170 km (106 mi) to the south), the largest city in the province, by the Brigadier Estanislao López Highway and by National Route 11, which continues south towards Buenos Aires. Córdoba is about (340 km (211 mi) west of Santa Fe, through the National Route 19. Santa Fe is home to the Sauce Viejo Airport with daily direct flights to Rosario and Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires.

History

Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz was founded on the nearby site of Cayastá in 1573 by the conquistador Juan de Garay (1528-1583) during an expedition which he led from Asunción (in present-day Paraguay) to the Paraná River. (Cayastá today has a historical park containing the grave of Hernandarias (1561-1634), the first American-born governor in South America.) The settlement was moved to the present site in 1653 due to the constant flooding of the Cayastá River. The city of Santa Fe became the provincial capital in 1814, when the territory of the province of Santa Fe was separated from the province of Buenos Aires by the National Constituent Assembly, held in the city in 1853.

Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz became the commercial and transportation center for a rich agricultural area that produces grain, vegetable oils, and meats. The city is the site of the National Technological University – Santa Fe Regional Faculty, Catholic University of Santa Fe (inaugurated in 1959), and the National University of the Littoral (first founded as the Provincial University in 1889, it adopted its current name in 1919).

A suspension bridge was completed in 1924, though severe flooding partially destroyed it in 1983 (a second bridge, the Oroño, was opened in 1971). The city's location is still not immune to flooding. On April 29, 2003, the Salado, which empties into the Paraná near Santa Fe, rose almost 2 m (6.5 ft) in a few hours following heavy rainfall, and caused a catastrophic flood. No fewer than 100,000 people had to be evacuated, and large sections of the city remained under water more than a week later. That year, the suspension bridge was reopened, and in 2008, the city's historic grain silos were converted into the Los Silos Hotel and Casino, and San Martín Street was converted to pedestrian use.

The city's historical role in the Argentine Constitution led national lawmakers to choose it as the site of Constitutional Conventions in 1949, 1957, and 1994.

Climate

The city has a climate considered as humid subtropical (Cfa, according to the Köppen climate classification, with a Cwa tendency). Winters are generally mild, though minimum temperatures can fall below 0 °C (32.0 °F) on cold nights during the winter. Summers are generally hot and humid. During the most extreme heat waves, temperatures have exceeded 45 °C (113.0 °F). Temperatures have exceeded 35 °C (95.0 °F) in every season.

Rainfall can be expected throughout the year though summer is usually the wettest season. Thunderstorms can be intense with frequent lightning, powerful downdraughts and intense precipitation. The lowest record temperature was −7.0 °C (19.4 °F) on June 13, 1967, while the highest recorded temperature was 45.6 °C (114.1 °F) on January 25, 1986.

The city

There is infrastructure for tourism that has been developed: river side bars and nightclubs, chic restaurants, the improvement of the major highways and a subfluvial tunnel.

Transport

Railway

Despite having had four railway stations, nowadays the city Santa Fe is not served by rail transport. The Mitre Railway station is no longer used since 2007, when defunct company Trenes de Buenos Aires cancelled its services to Santa Fe. Likewise, the Santa Fe Belgrano (built in 1891 and named Cultural Heritage) and Guadalupe stations had been entered into disuse in 1993 when the railway privatisation in Argentina ceased all the long-distance services in the country.

In the 2010s, the local municipality remodelled both stations as Guadalupe would be terminus for a new urban train. Nevertheless, the original project was not carried out. On the other hand, the Santa Fe Belgrano station was re-opened as a convention center.

The fourth station (also the oldest of all) had been built by French company Province of Santa Fe Railway in 1885. It was demolished in 1962 and replaced by a bus station.

Railway stations in the city of Santa Fe are:

Notes:

¹ No longer active since TBA cancelled its services.
² Granted in concession to the Municipality of Santa Fe that remodelled it completely. The station re-opened as a convention center.
³ Refurbished in 2011 by the Municipality to be terminus of an urban train. Nevertheless, the project was not carried out.
⁴ Also known as "La Francesa", it was demolished in 1962 to build a bus station.

Sports

Santa Fe put itself on the international sports map as one of the host cities of the 1990 FIBA World Championship. The games were played in the Estadio de la Facultad Regional Santa Fe. The Estadio Ángel Malvicino was one of the venues of the 2002 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship. Santa Fe also hosted the first ever Five-pin billiards World Championship in 1965.

The city is also home to two first division football teams: Club Atlético Colón and Club Atlético Unión, who contest the Santa Fe derby. Santa Fe was also the place where the world known Amílcar Brusa was born and raised, and the home of boxers Carlos Baldomir and Julio César Vásquez.

Notable natives

Estanislao López, past Governor
Carlos Thompson, actor
Diego Bustos, journalist
Norman Briski, actor and director
Marcos Mundstock, actor and humorist
Ariel Ramírez, musician and composer
Ricardo Supisiche, artist
Reine Flachot, cellist
Liliana Bodoc, writer
Osvaldo Bayer, writer
Sergio Rubin, journalist
Francisco Urondo, poet, writer and playwright
Fernando Birri, film maker
Carlos Baldomir, boxer
Julio César Vásquez, boxer
Carlos Delfino, basketball player
Tayavek Gallizzi, basketball player
Carlos Guastavino, pianist, composer
Luciano De Cecco, volleyball player
Victoria Mayer, volleyball player
Germán Chiaraviglio, pole vaulter
Arturo Kenny, polo player
Rubén Rézola, sprint canoeist
Santiago Grassi, swimmer
Amelia Fournel, sport shooter
Mario Schujovitzky, football player
Enrique García, football player
René Pontoni, football player
Leopoldo Luque, football player
Pedro Pablo Pasculli, football player
Sebastián Battaglia, football player
Juan Antonio Pizzi, football player, manager
Carlos Reutemann, formula one driver and governor
Alberto Armando, businessman and football manager
Jorge Faurie, Diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Rogelio Pfirter, Diplomat
Dominga Lucía Molina, activist

Sister cities

Santa Fe is twinned with:

Santa Fe Springs, United States (1960)
Ypacaraí, Paraguay (1978)
Cuneo, Italy
Montevideo, Uruguay

Gallery

References

External links

Official website of Santa Fe Municipality (in Spanish)
Santa Fe, Argentina at Curlie
Santa Fe, Argentina travel guide from Wikivoyage

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Santa Fe, Argentina by Wikipedia (Historical)

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