Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz was founded on the nearby site of
Cayastá in 1573 by the
conquistador Juan de Garay (1528-1583) during an expedition which he led from
Asunción (in present-day
Paraguay) to the
Paraná River. (Cayastá today has a historical park containing the grave of
Hernandarias (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 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 (inaugurated in 1959), and the
National University of the Littoral (first founded as the Provincial University in 1889, it adopted its current name in 1919). 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 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 (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 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. File:Ex estacion de omnibus belgrano.jpg|Santa Fe rail station (1905), today the long-distance bus station File:Teatro Municipal de Santa Fe Argentina.JPG|
Municipal Theater File:Casa de Gobierno de Santa Fe.jpg|
Santa Fe Province Government House Building == Climate ==