Santa Fe, Argentina


Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, 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 ( 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
during an expedition which he led from Asunción to the Paraná River. 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, and the National University of the Littoral.
A suspension bridge was completed in 1924, though severe flooding partially destroyed it in 1983. 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 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. 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, powerful downdraughts and intense precipitation. The lowest record temperature was on June 13, 1967, while the highest recorded temperature was 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 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 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:
NameFormer companyLineStatus
Santa Fe (Mitre)BA & RosarioMitreClosed
Santa Fe (Belgrano)Central Northern[General Manuel General Manuel Belgrano Railway|Belgrano Railway|Belgrano]Closed
GuadalupeCentral NorthernBelgranoClosed
Central StationProv. Santa FeBelgranoDemolished

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

Sister cities

Santa Fe is twinned with: