Santiago del Estero
Argentina · Americas
About Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surface area of 2,116 km2. It lies on the Dulce River and on National Route 9, at a distance of 1,042 km north-northwest from Buenos Aires. Estimated to be 455 years old, Santiago del Estero was the first city founded by Spanish settlers in the territory that is now Argentina. As such, it is nicknamed "Madre de Ciudades" (Mother of Cities). Similarly, it has been officially declared the "mother of cities and cradle of folklore."
The city houses the National University of Santiago del Estero, founded in 1973, and the Universidad Católica, founded in 1960. Other points of interest include the city's Cathedral, the Santo Domingo Convent, and the Provincial Archeology Museum.
The Santiago del Estero Airport is located 6 kilometres north of the city, and has regular flights to Buenos Aires and San Miguel de Tucumán.
The climate is subtropical with cool dry winters and wet humid summers. It receives an average annual precipitation of 600 mm, and the climate is warm.
Santiago del Estero and its surroundings are home to about 100,000 speakers of the local variety of Quechua, making it the southernmost outpost of the language of the Incas. It is one of the few indigenous languages surviving in modern Argentina.
Santiago del Estero travel guide
Understand
If you start your Argentine tour in Buenos Aires and think the rest of the country is either similar or uninhabited, you're in for a surprise. The northwestern provinces of Argentina, including Salta and Jujuy, are more like parts of Argentina's Andean neighbors Peru and Bolivia in terms of terrain, culture, and way of life. There tends to be more domestic than foreign tourism to this part of Argentina. Due to this you may find many unexpected amenities (as well as transplanted porteños looking for renewal) in the small pueblos along the quebrada, or mountain chain, which is said to have "siete colores", which describes the stratified layers of minerals in the mountains which appear to be red, orange, pink, green, etc. The winters are dry, warm during the day and cool during the evening.
Getting there
Salta (SLA IATA), Tucuman (TUC IATA) and Jujuy (JUJ IATA) have airports with connections to Buenos Aires (AEP IATA, EZE IATA) and Cordoba (COR IATA). Capitán Vicente Almandos Almonacid Airport (IRJ IATA) in La Rioja has flights from Buenos Aires-Aeroparque and Catamarca. There are excellent connections on long-distance buses with the rest of the country.
See
Enjoy the breathtaking scenery and the great view of the starry sky behind the silhouettes of the cactus.
Do
Pet a llama. Stay in a small mountain pueblo. Take a private tour with an English-speaking guide. Poncho Tours offers tailor-made trips to suit you and your interests while exploring this beautiful area. http://www.ponchotours.com/
Eat
Be sure to try empanadas salteñas. Also try locro. This is a corn, pumpkin and pork meat stew.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.