Goya is a city in the south-west 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 ou ...

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It ha ...

in the Argentine

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

. It has about 77,349 inhabitants as of the . The city lies on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite

Reconquista, Santa Fe Reconquista is a city in the north of the , from the provincial capital. It is the head town of the General Obligado Department, and it has 99,288 inhabitants according to the . The city lies on a branch of the Paraná River opposite the city ...

, 218 kilometres south from the provincial capital (

) and 715 kilometres north-northwest from

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 ...

. Goya hosts the annual National Festival of the Surubí, which includes a

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

contest. The

surubí ''Pseudoplatystoma'' is a genus of several South American catfish species of family Pimelodidae. The species are known by a number of different common names. They typically inhabit major rivers where they prefer the main channels and tend to sta ...

is a popular large

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

of the Paraná.

Origin of its name and history

The city of Goya originated from the purchase of land at the site by Gregoria Morales and her husband, Bernardo Olivera, in 1771. The city does not have foundation act and, in agreement with the oral tradition, its name is owed to the enterprising Gregoria Morales' nickname: Doña Goya. Following the couple's settlement in the proximities of the present "costanera" (riverfront), she opened a general store upon her arrival, and per historian José M. Cabrer, tradition held that this lady made exquisite cheeses, with the milk of cows fed with reedbeds and coconuts. Her canned goods were, in turn, purchased by visitors and merchants plying the Paraná River, popularizing the name of the delicacies to the extent that, by 1801, the site was popularly known as "Goya Port." The settlement was informally established as such in 1807, and the local cathedral, Our Lady of the Rosary, was consecrated in 1884. Among Goya's historical anecdotes is having been where Camila O'Gorman and her forbidden love, Father Ladislao Gutiérrez, sought refuge; the couple were apprehended and executed in 1848.

Swallows

In November migratory

swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

s arrive in Argentina from North America. According to local custom the swallows that come to Goya are from

San Juan Capistrano San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for " St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Local custom says the swallows arrive in Goya on November 24, having left San Juan Capistrano on October 23, following the Pacific coast on an 11,000 kilometer journey. When arriving in Goya, the swallows (''golondrinas'') are received with a series of festivals at the ''Monument to the swallows'' located in San Martín Square, one of the birds' preferred nesting places. The return to Capistrano of the first swallows begins around February 18, to arrive in California around the traditional date of March 19 every year. This particular event encouraged the mayors of Goya and San Juan Capistrano to sign a declaration of brotherhood between the two cities in 1985; President

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...

contributed a framed Argentine flag in commemoration of the event to San Juan Capistrano. Monumento del General San Martín, Goya

Renowned natives

* The psychiatrist José Tiburcio Borda (1869–1936) * The baritone singer Armando Noguera * The football player Horacio Ramón Cardozo * The 1990 FIFA World Cup player

Pedro Monzón Pedro Damián Monzón (born 23 February 1962) is an Argentine football coach and former player who played as a defender. Club career ''Moncho'' Monzón played in different clubs, but most importantly in Independiente, with which he obtained 4 ...

* The

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player Federico Kammerichs

References

Official site
(Spanish) *
Fiesta Nacional del Surubí
- Official website of the National Festival of the Surubí.
GoyaTeQuiereConocer
- Official Tourism Calendar - Goya you want to know.
Facebook Page de Goya
- Goya Facebook Page - GoyaCorrientes.
Facebook Page del Surubí
- Surubí Facebook Page - SurubiGoya.

{{Authority control Populated places in Corrientes Province Paraná River Populated places established in 1807 Cities in Argentina