Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈsantaˈfeðelaˈβeɾaˈkɾus], lit. “Holy Faith of the True Cross”; usually called justSanta Fe, is the capital city of theprovince ofSanta Fe,Argentina. It is situated in north-eastern Argentina, near the junction of theParaná andSalado rivers. It lies 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from theHernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel that connects it to the city ofParaná. The city is also connected bycanal with theport of Colastiné on the Paraná River. Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz has about 391,164 inhabitants per the 2010census[INDEC]. Themetropolitan area has a population of 653,073, making it the eighth largest in Argentina.
Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz was founded on the nearby site ofCayastá in 1573 by theconquistadorJuan de Garay (1528-1583)[1]during an expedition which he led fromAsunción (in present-dayParaguay) to theParaná River. (Cayastá today has a historical park containing the grave ofHernandarias (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 ofBuenos Aires by theNational Constituent Assembly, held in the city in 1853.
Asuspension 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 theParaná 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 theLos 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 in1949,1957, and1994.
Santa Fe rail station (1905), today the long-distance bus station
The city has a climate considered ashumid subtropical (Cfa, according to theKöppen climate classification, with aCwa 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 extremeheat waves, temperatures have exceeded 45 °C (113.0 °F). Temperatures have exceeded 35 °C (95.0 °F) in every season.[2]
Rainfall can be expected throughout the year though summer is usually the wettest season.Thunderstorms can be intense with frequentlightning, powerful downdraughts and intenseprecipitation. 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.[3]
Climate data for Santa Fe, SF (Sauce Viejo Airport) 1991–2020, extremes 1961–present
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.[citation needed]
Despite having had fourrailway stations, nowadays the city Santa Fe is not served by rail transport. TheMitre Railway station is no longer used since 2007, when defunct companyTrenes de Buenos Aires cancelled its services to Santa Fe. Likewise, theSanta Fe Belgrano (built in 1891 and named Cultural Heritage) and Guadalupe stations had been entered into disuse in 1993 when therailway 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.[7][8] Nevertheless, the original project was not carried out. On the other hand, the Santa Fe Belgrano station was re-opened as aconvention center.[9]
(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.
^The South American Republics, page 22 - "[...] it was not until 1573 that the Spaniards from Asuncion succeeded in founding a city south of the confluence of the Paraná and Paraguay. Santa Fé was the first Spanish settlement on the Plate in territory now a part of the Argentine Republic. [...] The man who led the creoles to the pampa was Juan de Garay, a Basque, who had been one of the soldiers in the army that conquered Peru."
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