About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Tucumán

Encyclopedia : T : TU : TUC : Tucumán

|} San Miguel de Tucumán (usually referred to as simply Tucumán) is the largest city in northwestern Argentina, with a population (2001) of 525,853. The metropolitan area totals 738,000, making it the fifth-largest in the country. It is the capital of the province of Tucumán. It was founded in 1565 by spanish Diego de Villarroel travelling south from Peru and was moved to the present site in 1685. It is situated at an altitude of 450 meters and sprawls over an area of 90 km². The city is bordered on the north by Las Talitas (Tafí Viejo), on the east by Banda del Río Salí and Alderetes (Cruz Alta), on the west by the city of Yerba Buena, and on the south by Lules.

The city sits on the slopes of the Aconquija mountains, the easternmost mountain range before the large chaco-pampean flats. It is the commercial center of an irrigated area that produces large quantities of sugarcane, rice, tobacco, and fruitand provides the province with its nickname "El Jardín de la Republica" (The Garden of the Republic). The National University of Tucumán (1914) and the Saint Thomas Aquinas North University (1965) are in the city.

On July 9, 1816 a congress gathered in Tucumán declared the independence from Spain, which did not officially recognize it until 1862. The meeting place of the congress, the House of Tucumán, has been preserved as a national shrine.

Contents

Tourist attractions

Government house
Enlarge
Government house

Cultural Life and Education

Night view of the metropolitan area
Enlarge
Night view of the metropolitan area

Tucumán: Colonial-Style door
Enlarge
Tucumán: Colonial-Style door

Tucumán: La Marced Church
Enlarge
Tucumán: La Marced Church



For decades, San Miguel de Tucumán has been one of the most outstanding cultural spots in the country, in part, due to the influence of the prestigious National University of Tucumán. It has been the birthplace and/or the home of well-known personalities such as folk singer Mercedes Sosa, writer Tomas Eloy Martinez, musician Miguel Angel Estrella, Miguel Lillo, painter Luis Lobo de la Vega and many others. 


Two large theaters (San Martín and Alberdi) and several smaller and independent theaters offer a wide array of events, including plays, concerts, operas, and ballet, all year round. The “Septiembre Musical” is by far the most important cultural event during the year. This music festival, generally held at the Independencia Square, brings together several local and national artists who perform different musical styles ranging from folk music to rock. 


There are two public universities in the city, The National University of Tucumán and the Universidad Tecnológica National (National Technological University, UTN), and a private one, the Universidad del Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino (Saint Thomas Aquinas North University).



Transportation

The city is served by many bus lines that have routes within the city limits  and some others that connect it to the neighboring cities of Yerba Buena, El Manantial, Tafi Viejo, Las Talitas, Banda del Rio Salí and Alderetes. 


The "Benjamín Matienzo" International Airport is the city's airport (though located 12 km west of the city, in the neighboring department of Cruz Alta) serving over 300,000 passengers a year. There are daily flights to Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Santiago del Estero.


There is a weekly railway service to the Retiro station in Buenos Aires departing from the Bartolomé Mitre station located near downtown. 


San Miguel de Tucumán boasts one of the largest bus stations in Argentina. The 30,000 m² "Terminal del Tucumán" (opened in 1994) is the point from where hundreds of bus services arrive from and depart to almost all of the largest and mid-size cities throughout the country.




Media


San Miguel de Tucumán is home to two free-to-air television stations (Channel 8 and Channel 10), four newspapers (La Gaceta, El Siglo, El Tribuno and La Ciudad), three cable television companies (CCC, ATS, and TCC) and several radio stations.



Natives from Tucumán



External links





















 





From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.













Search Titles









0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?










E-mail this article to:



Personal Message: