
Santa Fe City Hall.

Pedestrianized San MartÃn
Street.
Santa Fe is the capital city
of province of Santa Fe, Argentina
. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the
junction of the Paraná
and Salado rivers. It lies
opposite the city of
Paraná,
to which it is linked by the
Hernandarias Subfluvial
Tunnel. The city is also connected by
canal with the
port of
Colastiné on the Paraná River. Santa Fe has
about 369,000 inhabitants as per the . The
metropolitan area has a population of
454,238, making it the ninth largest in Argentina.
Santa Fe is the commercial and transportation center for a rich
agricultural area that produces grain,
vegetable oils, and meats.
The city is the seat
of the Catholic
University of Santa Fe (inaugurated in 1959), the National
University of the Littoral
(first founded as the Provincial University in
1889, and which changed to its current name in 1919), several
museums, and a number of buildings erected during colonial
times.
Santa Fe
is linked to Rosario
(170 km
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
.
History

Santa Fe railway station, 1905; today
the long distance bus station.
Santa Fe was originally founded in the nearby site of
Cayastá (where there is an historical park
containing the burial place of
Hernandarias, the first
American-born governor in
South
America) in 1573. It was moved to the present site in 1653 due
to the constant flooding of the Cayastá River.
The city became
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.
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
historical role in the Argentine Constitution led national
lawmakers to choose it as the site of Constitutional Conventions in
1949,
1957, and
1994.
Its 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 and
San MartÃn Street was pedestrianized.
Climate
The city has a climate considered as "
Humid
Subtropical" or "Cfa" by
Köppen classification. Winters
are generally mild, though minimum temperatures can fall below 0°C
(32°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°F). Temperatures
have exceeded 35°C (95°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 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 an important infrastructure for tourism developed due to
the building of highways and a subfluvial tunnel and, together with
the beauty of the landscape and the various attractions that
tourists can enjoy make them feel pleased to choose this region to
spend their 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.
Gallery of Panoramic views of Santa Fe

Santa Fe view from San José del
Rincón
Notable natives
References

Santa Fe Riverwalk.

Estación Recoleta Shopping
Gallery.
Palomar Park.
Plaza of the Two Cultures.
See also
Historical
Government
Tourism
Geographical location and Climate data
Press
Others