Santa Fe

Introducing Santa Fe

There’s quite a contrast between Santa Fe’s relaxed center, where colonial buildings age gracefully in the humid heat and nobody seems to get beyond an amble, and a Friday night in the Recoleta district where university students in dozens of bars show the night no mercy. Capital of its province, but with a small-town feel, Santa Fe is an excellent place to visit for a day or two.

Santa Fe de la Veracruz, to give it its full title, was moved here in 1651 from its original location at Cayastá 75km to the north. The first Santa Fe was founded in 1573 by Juan de Garay but by the mid-17th century the location proved intolerable for the original Spanish settlers. Wearied by constant Indian raids, floods and isolation, they packed up the place and moved it to its current location on a tributary of the Río Paraná. Several picturesque colonial buildings remain.

In 1853 Argentina’s first constitution was ratified by an assembly that met here, a source of great pride to the city. Santa Fe hit the headlines again in 2003, when a sudden flood caused havoc. About 100, 000 people had to be evacuated, and 24 people perished.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009