Salta

Gateway to Northern Argentina

 

November 2022

 

by Ravi Chandra Gundakaram


Salta is a city in the north of Argentina and also capital of the Salta province. The city is huge; it seems half of the entire population of the province lives here, and so no wonder that it does seem crowded. Colonial vestiges can be see throughout. Salta is the starting point for day trips and also for multi-day tours of northern Argentina, which itself is a beautiful part of the country. The landscape surrounding the city is filled with campos, valles, arroyos, quebradas and more, and is very different from what you will find down south in the Tierra del Fuego! There is actually much more to Salta than you will see here; this post intends to just give you a feel for some parts of the city.


A view around Plaza 9 de Julio, the City Square.


A statue of General Juan Antonio Álvarez de Arenales in the middle of the plaza. He fought in many wars, and was later Governor of Salta province.


Seen in our photograph here is the ‘Cabildo historico’. Cabildo in Spanish means a Government council or Town Hall, which indeed this building was in the previous centuries (yes, parts of the construction are nearly four centuries old!). Today, the building houses two museums.


Basilico y convento de San Francisco is a Basilica and Convent very close to the main square. It is a beautiful edifice and one not to be missed on a visit to Salta!


Here, we see the grounds outside the Convento San Bernardo. Do not try to enter the Convent, unless you are a Carmelite nun!


Looking down Caseros street on a lazy Sunday morning.. But I did get the chance to see how crowded Salta’s streets could get!


The tall palm trees in plaza Gral. Manuel Belgrano. Manuel Belgrano was, among many other things, a General, and he is the designer of the Argentinian flag that we see today.


Talking of the Flag, on one of the evenings that I was in Salta, Argentina had beat long-time rival Mexico in a World cup football match (2023). The authorities closed the area around the main plaza for vehicular traffic so that the people could celebrate, and celebrate the Salteños did, by coming out in numbers. Hombre! Did they make a mess of the place!!


You can see many ‘Messi’ T-shirts in the photograph here. Even the restaurants were filled with people wearing these T-shirts!

That is all from Salta, Friends! Let us travel to other places in northern Argentina in the next few posts!!
Location: Salta, Salta Province, Argentina

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