Current Time in Santiago del Estero, Argentina

Santiago del Estero lies in the north of Argentina, capital of the province of the same name, on the right bank of the Rio Dulce in the dry plain of the Gran Chaco. The land around it is flat, covered with thorn forest of quebracho, algarrobo and cactus, and the climate is among the hottest in the country, with summer temperatures that regularly exceed forty degrees and mild, dry winters. The river, fed by snowmelt from the Andes far to the west, makes settlement and irrigated farming possible.

About two hundred and fifty thousand people live in the city, and close to four hundred thousand in the urban area it forms with neighbouring La Banda across the river. Public administration, commerce, health care and education dominate the economy, alongside agriculture and forestry in the province, where soybeans, cotton, maize, goats and cattle are produced and where the hardwood forests were heavily exploited for railway sleepers and tannin in the last century. Tourism, drawn to the thermal springs and the folk music tradition, has grown steadily.

The city was founded in 1553 by Francisco de Aguirre and is the oldest Spanish settlement still inhabited in Argentina, which has earned it the title of mother of cities. From here expeditions set out to found Tucuman, Cordoba, Salta and other centres of the interior, and for decades it was the administrative and religious capital of a vast territory. Its early prominence faded as the newer cities grew and as the colonial trade routes shifted, and floods, earthquakes and the movement of the river destroyed much of the earliest architecture. The arrival of the railway in the nineteenth century and the growth of the state in the twentieth restored its importance as a provincial capital.

The cathedral on the main square, the fifth to stand on the site, and the convent of Santo Domingo, which preserves a copy of the image of the Holy Shroud sent by Philip II of Spain, are the principal historic buildings. The Wagner archaeological museum holds an outstanding collection of pottery from the pre-Hispanic cultures of the Chaco, and the provincial history museum occupies a colonial house. Parque Aguirre, a large wooded park beside the river, provides shade, an amphitheatre and a zoo, and the riverside beaches are used in summer. Nearby, Termas de Rio Hondo is the leading thermal spa town of Argentina and hosts an international racing circuit that stages a round of the motorcycling world championship.

The province is the heartland of the chacarera, a vigorous folk dance played on guitar, violin and the bombo drum, and the city fills with music during its festivals. Santiago del Estero is also notable for the survival of Quichua, a variety of Quechua still spoken in rural districts, unique in Argentina. The National University of Santiago del Estero and a Catholic university serve a large student population, and an airport, national highways and rail links connect the city with Buenos Aires and the north-west.

Santiago del Estero is important as the oldest city in Argentina and as the cultural cradle of its folk music and interior traditions.