Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz (; usually called just Santa Fe) is the capital city of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

of Santa Fe,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. It is situated in north-eastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies from the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel that connects it to the city of Paraná. The city is also connected by

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...

with the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

of Colastiné on the Paraná River. Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz has about 391,164 inhabitants per the . The

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

has a population of 653,073, making it the eighth largest in Argentina. The third largest city in Argentina is Rosario, also located in

Santa Fe Province The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco (divided by the 28th parallel south), Corrientes, Entre R� ...

. Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz is linked to

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...

( 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 Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. Córdoba is about ( west of Santa Fe, through the National Route 19. Santa Fe is home to the Sauce Viejo Airport with daily direct flights to

and Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires.

History

Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz was founded in the nearby site of Cayastá in 1573, by the Captain

Juan de Garay Juan de Garay (1528–1583) was a Spanish conquistador. Garay's birthplace is disputed. Some say it was in the city of Junta de Villalba de Losa in Castile, while others argue he was born in the area of Orduña (Basque Country). There's n ...

, who came from

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

, at the time. The site is today a historical park containing the grave of Hernandarias, 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 became the provincial capital in 1814, when the territory of the province of Santa Fe was separated from the province of

by the National Constituent Assembly, held in the city in 1853. Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz is the commercial and transportation center for a rich agricultural area that produces grain,

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or f ...

s, 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 The National University of Litoral ( es, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, UNL) is a public university in Argentina. It is based in Santa Fe, the capital of Santa Fe Province. It has colleges and other academic facilities in Esperanza, Recon ...

(first founded as the Provincial University in 1889, and which changed to its current name in 1919). A

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical ...

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, however. 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 LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significan ...

, 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 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

, 1957, and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

. File:Ex estacion de omnibus belgrano.jpg, Santa Fe rail station (1905), today the long-distance bus station File:Teatro municipal santa fe.JPG, Municipal Theater File:Calle San Martín, Santa Fe, Argentina.jpg, Pedestrian San Martín Street

Climate

The city has a climate considered as humid subtropical (''Cfa'', according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

, with a ''Cwa'' tendency). Winters are generally mild, though minimum temperatures can fall below on cold nights during the winter. Summers are generally hot and humid. During the most extreme heat waves, temperatures have exceeded . Temperatures have exceeded in every season. Rainfall can be expected throughout the year though summer is usually the wettest season. Thunderstorms can be intense with frequent

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

, powerful downdraughts and intense

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

. The lowest record temperature was on June 13, 1967, while the highest recorded temperature was on January 25, 1986.

The city

Santa Fe has a lot of important commercial centres, busy cultural life, interesting options in sports and tourism, numerous artistic and musical events, and an exciting nightlife. There is important infrastructure for tourism that has been developed: river side bars and nightclubs, chic restaurants, the improvement of the major highways and a subfluvial tunnel and, combine that with the beauty of the landscape and the various attractions that tourists enjoy make this a popular region to spend holidays. Hunting, fishing, excursions, walks by the river, practising water sports on the River Paraná (18 km away via Nº168 National Road), visiting the Space Observation Centre or the Zoo- Experimental Station of "La Esmeralda" Farm, make the tourist feel amazed and eager to know more about the region. In a nutshell, Santa Fe offers a complete and varied shade of attractions that make one dive into history when visiting monuments, museums or find oneself in the beautiful parks, rivers and streams surrounded by wild flora and fauna.

Transport

Railway

Despite having had four

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

s, 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 A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

. The fourth station (also the oldest of all) had been built by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

company

Province of Santa Fe Railway Province of Santa Fe Railway (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Provincial de Santa Fe and in French: "Compagnie Française de Chemins de Fer dans la Province de Santa Fe") was a French-owned company that purchased a railway network built by the provincia ...

in 1885. It was demolished in 1962 and replaced by a

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...

. Railway stations in the city of Santa Fe are: Notes: * ¹ ''No longer active since

TBA To be announced (TBA), to be confirmed (TBC), to be determined or decided or declared (TBD), and other variations, are placeholder terms used very broadly in event planning to indicate that although something is scheduled or expected to happen, a ...

cancelled its services.'' * ² ''Granted in concession to the Municipality of Santa Fe that remodelled it completely. The station re-opened as a

. * ³ ''Refurbished in 2011 by the Municipality to be terminus of an urban train."Puesta en valor de la Estación Guadalupe"
El Santafesino, 18 Mar 2011 Nevertheless, the project was not carried out.'' * ⁴ ''Also known as "La Francesa", it was demolished in 1962 to build a

.''

Sports

Santa Fe put itself on the international sports map as one of the host cities of the

1990 FIBA World Championship The 1990 FIBA World Championship was the 11th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Argentina from 8 to 19 August 1990. The final phase of the competition was held at the Luna P ...

. The games were played in the

Estadio de la Facultad Regional Santa Fe A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

. The city is also home to two first division

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

teams: Club Atlético Colón and Club Atlético Unión, who contest the

Santa Fe derby The Santa Fe derby (''Clásico Santafesino'' in Spanish) is one of the most fiercely contested derbies in Argentine football. It is played between local clubs Colón and Unión. Colón play their home games at the Estadio Brigadier General Esta ...

. Santa Fe was also the place where the world known Amílcar Brusa was born and raised, and the home of boxers

Carlos Baldomir Carlos Manuel Baldomir (born April 30, 1971) is an Argentine former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2014. He held the WBC, The ''Ring'', and lineal welterweight titles in 2006, and challenged once for the WBC super welterweight t ...

and Julio César Vásquez.

Notable natives

Mercedes Sosa, Félix Luna y Ariel Ramírez

* Estanislao López, past Governor *

Carlos Thompson Juan Carlos Mundin-Schaffter, known as Carlos Thompson, (7 June 1923 – 10 October 1990) was an Argentine actor. Career Of German and Swiss descent, he played leading roles on stage and in films in Argentina. He went to Hollywood in the 1950s ...

, actor *

Diego Bustos Diego Bustos may refer to: * Diego Bustos (anchorman) (born 1971), Argentine anchorman and media personality * Diego Bustos (footballer) (born 1974), Argentine footballer {{hndis, Bustos, Diego ...

, journalist *

Norman Briski Norman Briski (born January 2, 1938) is an Argentine theatre actor, director and playwright, as well as a cinema and television actor. Life and work Naum Normando Briski was born in Santa Fe, Argentina, in 1938. His Jewish Argentine family reloca ...

, actor and director *

Marcos Mundstock Marcos Mundstock (May 25, 1942 – April 22, 2020) was an Argentine musician, writer, comedian, actor, broadcaster and copywriter. He had dual nationality of Argentina and Spain, having obtained the latter in 2012. Born in Santa Fe, Argentina ...

, actor and humorist *

Ariel Ramírez Ariel Ramírez (4 September 1921 – 18 February 2010) was an Argentine composer, pianist and music director. He was considered "a chief exponent of Argentine folk music" and noted for his "iconic" musical compositions. Ramírez is known primari ...

, musician and composer * Ricardo Supisiche, artist * Reine Flachot, cellist *

Liliana Bodoc Liliana Bodoc (21 July 1958 – 6 February 2018) was an Argentinian writer of fantasy. Life Liliana Bodoc was born in Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe in 1958. When she was five years old, her family moved to Mendoza Province, Mendoza for work. There, ...

, writer *

Osvaldo Bayer Osvaldo Bayer (18 February 1927 – 24 December 2018) was an Argentine writer and journalist. He lived in Buenos Aires. In 1974, during the presidency of Isabel Perón, he went into exile, residing in Linz am Rhein, Germany, throughout the Nation ...

, writer *

Sergio Rubin Sergio Rubin is an Argentine journalist and writer. He is the authorized biographer of Pope Francis, and wrote his only biography available at the time of his election, in March 2013. He currently works at Argentine newspaper '' Clarín'' as a co ...

, journalist *

Francisco Urondo Francisco "Paco" Urondo (January 10, 1930 in Santa Fe – June 17, 1976 in Mendoza) was an Argentine writer and member of the Montoneros guerrilla organization. Urondo published multiple collections of poetry, short stories, theatrical wor ...

, poet, writer and playwright *

Fernando Birri Fernando Birri (March 13, 1925 – December 27, 2017) was an Argentine film maker and theorist. He was considered by many to be the father of the new Latin American cinema. Biography Birri was born in Santa Fe, Argentina. After being involved in ...

, film maker *

, boxer * Julio César Vásquez, boxer *

Carlos Delfino Carlos Francisco Delfino (born August 29, 1982) is an Argentine-Italian professional basketball player for Victoria Libertas Pesaro of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He holds dual citizenship in both Italy and Argentina. Standing at , he ...

, basketball player *

Tayavek Gallizzi Tayavek Gallizzi (born February 8, 1993) is an Argentine professional basketball player who currently plays for Regatas Corrientes of the Argentine Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB). He defends Argentina. Professional career Gallizzi began his prof ...

, basketball player *

Carlos Guastavino Carlos Guastavino (5 April 1912 – 29 October 2000) was an Argentine composer, considered one of the foremost composers of his country. His production amounted to over 500 works, most of them songs for piano and voice, many still unpublished. H ...

, pianist, composer * Luciano De Cecco, volleyball player *

Victoria Mayer María Victoria Mayer (born ) is an Argentine volleyball player. She is part of the Argentina women's national volleyball team. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Career She participated in the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Cha ...

, volleyball player *

Germán Chiaraviglio Germán Pablo Chiaraviglio Ermácora (born 16 April 1987 in Santa Fe) is an Argentine pole vaulter. Biography His personal best of 5.71 metres was achieved at the World Junior Championships in Beijing on August 19, 2006, when he beat the ...

, pole vaulter * Arturo Kenny, polo player *

Rubén Rézola Rubén Oscar Voisard Rézola (born 21 April 1991 in Santa Fe, Argentina) is an Argentine sprint canoeist. He won the gold medal in the men's kayak doubles (200 m) at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada and silver medal in the men' ...

, sprint canoeist *

Santiago Grassi Santiago Grassi (born 25 September 1996) is an Argentina, Argentine swimming (sport), swimmer. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre butterfly, men's 100 metre butterfly; his time o ...

, swimmer *

Amelia Fournel Amelia Rosa Fournel (born 1977 in Santa Fe) is an Argentine sport shooter. She produced a career tally of five medals, including four (two silver and two bronze) from the Pan American Games, and was selected to compete for Argentina in two editi ...

, sport shooter *

Mario Schujovitzky Mario Schujovitzky (born 24 February 1953; he, מריו זוכוביצקי) was an Argentine-Israeli footballer who played for Chacarita Juniors and Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפו� ...

, football player * Enrique García, football player * René Pontoni, football player *

Leopoldo Luque Leopoldo Jacinto Luque (; (3 May 1949 – 15 February 2021) was an Argentine footballer who played as a striker. Club career In a career spanning from 1972 to 1984 he played for Unión de Santa Fe, Rosario Central, River Plate, Racing Club de ...

, football player *

Pedro Pablo Pasculli Pedro Pablo Pasculli (born 17 May 1960) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a forward and is currently technical secretary at Bangor City in the Cymru North. He spent most of his career with Argentinos Juniors and Italian club L ...

, football player *

Sebastián Battaglia Sebastián Alejandro Battaglia (born 8 November 1980) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a midfielder and manager. He spent most of his career with Argentine club Boca Juniors, but also had a brief spell with Spanish side Villarr ...

, football player *

Juan Antonio Pizzi Juan Antonio Pizzi Torroja (, ; born 7 June 1968) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker, currently manager of UAE Pro League club Al-Wasl. He spent the bulk of his club career in Spain, mainly at Tenerife, helping to t ...

, football player, manager * Carlos Reutemann, formula one driver and governor *

Alberto Armando Alberto José Armando (February 4, 1910 – December 28, 1988) was an Argentine businessman and football manager. He was the president of club Boca Juniors from 1954 to 1955, and from 1960 to 1980. With Armando as president, Boca Juniors gained i ...

, businessman and football manager * Jorge Faurie, Diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs *

Rogelio Pfirter Rogelio Pfirter (born 25 August 1948) is an Argentine diplomat who served as Argentina's ambassador to the United Kingdom and to the Holy See. He was the Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) from 20 ...

, Diplomat

Gallery

File:Santa Fe Montage.jpg, (From top to bottom; from left to right) Panoramic view of the city; Municipal Theatre; Plaza Las Tres Culturas; Puente Colgante at night and the National University of the Littoral. File:Santa Fe, Argentina 2019 (letras).jpg, Santa Fe,

File:Santa Fe Postal Panorámica.jpg, Santa Fe, Argentina File:02_Facultad_de_Ciencias_Jurídicas_y_Sociales_de_la_UNL.jpg, Santa Fe at night File:Puente carretero Santa Fe.JPG, Santa Fe File:02_Laguna_Setúbal_de_Santa_Fe_y_la_bajante_histórica_del_Paraná_2021.jpg, Santa Fe from afar File:Catedral_de_Santa_Fe.JPG, Santa Fe Cathedral File:Parquedelsurmonteagudo.JPG, Santa Fe, Argentina File:Trenurbano1.jpeg,

Santa Fe Urban Train The Santa Fe Urban Train (in Spanish: "Tren Urbano de Santa Fe") was a commuter rail serving the metropolitan area of Santa Fe city in Argentina. It had 8 stops, extending from El Molino to Don Bosco stations, running on the Belgrano Railway ...

Sister cities

Santa Fe is twinned with: * Santa Fe Springs, United States (1960) * Ypacaraí, Paraguay (1978) *

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

, Italy *

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...

, Uruguay

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Populated places in Santa Fe Province Capitals of Argentine provinces Paraná River Port settlements in Argentina Populated places established in 1573 Cities in Argentina 1573 establishments in the Spanish Empire

History

Climate

The city

Transport

Railway

Sports

Notable natives

Gallery

Sister cities

See also

References

External links