SANTA  F$, a

city of Argentina and capital of the province of that name, on the Santa Fe channel of the Parana near the mouth of the Salado, about 299 M . N.W. of Buenos Aires . Pop . (1895) 24,755, (1904 estimated) 33,200 . It is built on a sandy plain little above the river level . It is regularly laid out and contains a cathedral, bishop's palace, Jesuits' college and church dating from 1654, the cabildo or town hall facing on the principal square and provincial government buildings . The town is less modern in appearance than Rosario, and has a number of old residences and educational and charitable institutions . It is a port of call for small river steamers and is in ferry communication with Parana on the opposite bank of the Parana . Its shipping port for larger steamers is at Colastine, on a deeper channel, with which it is connected by rail . Santa Fe also has railway communication with Rosario, Cordoba, Tucuman and the frontier of the Chaco . Santa Fe was founded by Juan de Garay in 1573, and was designed to secure Spanish communications between Asuncion and the mouth of the La Plata . It has been the centre of much political intrigue, but its growth has been very slow .

In 1852 a constituent

congress met there, and in s86o a national convention for the revision of the constitution .