San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca

San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca (often abbreviated as Catamarca ) is a city in northwestern Argentina. It is the capital of the province of Catamarca and has 140 741 inhabitants ( 2001). In the metropolitan area of the city live about 200,000 people, nearly 70 percent of the province 's population.

Geography

Catamarca is located in the Valle de Catamarca, a valley that extends between the mountain ranges of the Sierra de Ancasti and the Sierra de Ambato, on the Rio del Valle, at the foot of the 3320 meter high Ambato, in 533 meters. The region belongs to the Sierras Pampeanas and is a total way of steppe and dry, but has a good soil quality, which is favorable to agriculture in the surrounding areas of the city.

History

Before the actual city of Catamarca was founded, the valley in the vicinity of the present-day suburb of San Isidro del Valle Viejo been inhabited since tight since the late 16th century.

1683 Fernando Mate de Luna founded the city and at the same time split from the province of Catamarca province of Tucumán.

In 1882, the city had a population of 8000.

The city developed slowly at first, but was then largely because of their importance as a pilgrimage ( statue of Mary Virgen del Valle) into a nationally important center. Nevertheless, the region long remained backward and poor, which was also due to the widespread nepotism of the ruling over half a century Saadi clan, whose machinations until the mid- 1990s, came to light. Nevertheless, stay city and province still politically unstable.

Economy

San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca is significant primarily as a center of agricultural industry and especially in the production of foodstuffs. Since the 1970s, several other industries settled, with the city, however, never reached the dynamics of the neighboring towns of La Rioja and San Juan. Furthermore, tourism is significant, because of the idyllic location of the city and the colonial buildings in the city and surrounding areas.

An industry for which the city is world famous, is the traditional manufacture of carpets. However, this industry continues to lose its meaning.

Attractions

Museums

  • Museo Folklórico " Juan Alfonzo Carrizo " ( Paseo General Navarro ). The museum tries to give a glimpse of traditional rural life and customs of the province with the help of furniture, clothes, tools, musical instruments. The name of the museum is reminiscent of Juan Alfonzo Carrizo, who collected 23,000 songs from the northwest and classified.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes " Laureano Brizuela " ( Sarmiento 347 ). In two halls works by Laureano Brizuela, Benito Quinquela Martín, Alberto Delmonto, Vicente Forte and other artists from Catamarca, but also the rest of Argentina and other Latin American countries will be issued. The museum has a specialized library and occasional exhibitions of invited artists. It is currently the most important Pinakothek Catamarcas.
  • Archaeological Museum " Adán Quiroga " ( Sarmiento 446). The archaeological museum shows mainly finds from the province of Catamarca. The amount of time that is bridged here, ranging from the first cultures that inhabited this province more than 10,000 years ago, through to the Spanish Conquest.
  • Archivo Histórico / Museo Histórico ( Chacabuco 425). The museum is housed in a large villa of the last century and opened in 1977. The museum has an original constitution of the province in 1895 and the original plan of the city of Catamarca of 1886. Moreover, it has an extensive collection of medals, old photographs and a special library. In the same building and the Historical Museum of the province is housed.
  • Museo Municipal del Deporte "Oscar" Cachin " Diaz " ( Complejo Urbano Girardi, Av. Ocampo 40, across from the Paseo Grail. Navarro. ). A local sports museum commemorates the native Argentine featherweight boxing champion Oscar " Cachin " Diaz.

Sons and daughters of the town

  • Ramón Castillo (1873-1944) politician and president of the country from 1942 to 1943.
  • Daniel Alberto Díaz ( born 1979 ), football player
  • Darío Díaz ( born 1981 ), cyclist
  • Walter Olmos (1982-2002) Cuarteto singer.
Provinces of Argentina Departments of Argentina Capital Department, Catamarca La Rioja, Argentina San Juan, Argentina
707903
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