Rosario
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- For other uses, see Rosario (disambiguation).Missing image
Rosario_desde_el_aire_1.jpgRosario viewed from a point above the Paraná River
Rosario is the largest city of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, and the second most populous in the country, with 1,121,441 inhabitants (2001 census [1] (http://www.indec.gov.ar/)), a position it shares with Córdoba city (the largest being Buenos Aires). It is located 300 km north of Buenos Aires on the Paraná River, which allows the existence of a 32-feet deep port. Rosario is located at 32°57'4" South, 60°39'59" West (-32.95111, -60.666389). [2] (http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html)
Along with Paraná, Rosario is one of the few Argentine cities that cannot point to a particular individual as its founder. The city's patron is the Virgen del Rosario (feast day October 7).
The city is a major railroad terminal and the shipping center for northeastern Argentina. Ocean steamers reach the city via the Paraná River. The port is subject to silting and must be dredged periodically. Exports include wheat, flour, hay, linseed and other oils, corn, sugar, lumber, meats, hides, and wool. Manufactures include flour, sugar, meat products, and other foodstuffs. A bridge running over the Paraná River to connect Rosario with the city of Victoria was opened in 2003.
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Institutions
Rosario is an important educational center on the national and international level. It is the home of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR) since 1968, and of a regional faculty of the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional (UTN), which are both public and free; also the Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA), the Universidad Austral, the Universidad del Centro Educativo Latinoamericano (UCEL) and the Universidad Abierta Interamericana (UAI), which are private institutions.
Rosario is also seat of the football teams Rosario Central (founded 1889) and Newell's Old Boys (founded 1903).
The city has three notable newspapers: La Capital (Argentina's oldest still-published newspaper, founded 1867), El Ciudadano & la Región (founded 1999) and Rosario/12 (founded 1991).
The city has several museums, among which are to be noted: the Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes "Juan B. Castagnino", the Museo Municipal de Arte Decorativo "Firma y Odilio Estevez", the Museo Histórico Provincial "Dr. Julio Marc", the Museo de la Ciudad, and the recently inaugurated (2004) Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Rosario (MACRo). The Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales "Dr. Angel Gallardo" is being reconstructed after a fire in 2003, and there are projects to move the Museo Nacional de Arte Oriental, which currently shares a building with the Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo in Buenos Aires, to Rosario.
There are four AM radio stations: three private ones, Radio 2 (LT2), LT3 and LT8; and one public, Radio Nacional Rosario, property of the National State. Among the multitude of FM stations some notable ones are FM Vida, Estación del Siglo, Radiofónica, Clásica Rosario, etc.
As for television, Rosario has two private local channels, Canal 3 and Canal 5 (the latter is part of the national network Telefé), and a relay station for the public national station, Canal 7. Besides, there are three cable TV nets (the national ones Cablevisión and Multicanal, and a local net, Cablehogar), which support two local channels, Canal 4 Noticias and Canal 6.
History
Rosario was a small village until 1850, when it was established as a port of entry. In colonial times, the city was first known as Pago de los Arroyos, and later as Villa del Rosario.
Flag_Memorial_(Rosario)_1.jpg
The Flag Memorial marks the site where, on February 27 1812, General Manuel Belgrano first raised the Argentine flag on the shores of the Paraná. Because of this, Rosario is known as the "Cradle of the Argentine Flag".
During part of the second half of the 19th century there was a movement promoting that the city of Rosario become the capital of the republic. Ovidio Lagos, founder of the oldest Argentine newspaper, La Capital, was one of the strongest defenders of this idea (one of the main avenues in Rosario now carries his name). Those were times when Argentina debated between the convenience of a federal system (with provincial governments elected by the local inhabitants) vs. a unitary system (in which the President of the Republic appointed the governors). Rosario was indeed declared the federal capital in three occasions, but each time the law received a veto of the Executive Branch (once by Bartolomé Mitre and twice by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento).
Current situation
Following the decline of much of the city's once extensive industry, which occurred during the 1990s, as well as the lack of international competitiveness of agricultural products that make the bulk of production in the region, much of Rosario's population fell under the poverty line. Today, a sizable proportion of the population lives in villas miseria (slums) lacking toilets, running water and other essential services.
Since the recovery of the national economy that followed the 2001 collapse, Rosario's economic situation has improved. It is the fastest growing city in Argentina, a situation which is improving living conditions. The massive boom in agricultural exports (mainly soy products) in the province has caused a large amount of consumer spending and investment in Rosario, which is now receiving more small-scale tourism than ever. Among the businesses which have opened (or re-opened) in the city, there are two large shopping malls, Alto Rosario and El Portal.
The Mayor (intendente) of Rosario as of 2005 was Miguel Lifschitz (Socialist Party). This administration, like the previous one (headed by Hermes Binner), is taking advantage of the economic boom to invest heavily in public works, as well as public health (which takes up about a quarter of the whole budget).
Urban structure
- For urban maps, see Mapas de Rosario (http://www.unr.edu.ar/rosario/depaseo/mapas/mapas.htm) (website of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario; in Spanish)
Rosario lies on the tall ravine of the right-hand shore of the Paraná, in a place where the ravine separates from the river and there is a natural slope to the low shore, known as Bajada Sargento Cabral. For a long time this was the only access to the port, until several cuts were made in the walls of the ravine.
The point of origin of the city is the Plaza 25 de Mayo ("25th of May Square"), now surrounded by the Municipality (Palacio de los Leones), the cathedral, the Central Post Office building, the Decorative Art Museum and the emblematic building called La Bola de Nieve ("The Snowball"). The streets follow a remarkably regular pattern called damero (a checkerboard grid), except in the zone around the Bajada Sargento Cabral, where the streets are somewhat more irregular due to terrain features.
Two main arteries are to be noted in Rosario's urban structure: Oroño Boulevard (bulevar Oroño), going from north to south, and Pellegrini Avenue (avenida Pellegrini), from east to west. These streets, together with the river, mark the boundaries of the town center. Their characters are rather different. Oroño has an air of distinction, it is flanked by old buildings and mansions, and it has a wide central walking path that is profusely hoisted, devoted to pedestrians and cyclists. Pellegrini is wide and noisy, with a high flow of transit; it is one of the commercial centers of the city, where numerous restaurants and ice-cream shops can be found.
Downtown, Córdoba Street is the main one. Córdoba begins in the Memorial Flag Park, goes up to the city center, and it becomes a pedestrian walk for seven blocks, between Plaza 25 de Mayo and Plaza Pringles. Along Córdoba to the west there is the Paseo del Siglo ("Walk of the Century"), thus called because the houses of the richest families of Rosario at the beginning of the 20th century can be found along Córdoba, from Plaza Pringles to Oroño Boulevard. On Córdoba street there is also Plaza San Martín, surrounded by buildings that formerly housed the Tribunals and the Police, and now the seats of universities, museums and the delegation of the provincial government.
Out of Plaza 25 de Mayo, towards the river, between the cathedral and the municipal building, there is Pasaje Juramento ("Oath Passage"), leading to the Flag Memorial.
Also in the town center there is Peatonal San Martín (the pedestrian-only four blocks of San Martín Street, from Peatonal Córdoba south up to Mendoza Street), and two large open squares, Plaza Montenegro and Plaza Sarmiento, among other important spots. Other important commercial streets are Corrientes, San Luis and Santa Fe.
At the confluence of Oroño and Pellegrini starts the Parque Independencia ("Independence Park"), that houses the Museum of Fine Arts J. B. Castagnino, the Newell's Old Boys football club, and the sports clubs Provincial and Gimnasia y Esgrima, as well as the horse racetrack and the former Sociedad Rural (Rural Society).
Through the years, Rosario has spread in all directions. Towards the south, beyond Pellegrini, there are two more boulevards, 27 de Febrero and Seguí, and avenues Uriburu, Arijón and Battle y Ordóñez.
To the west, after Oroño, there are the avenues Ovidio Lagos and Francia, Avellaneda Boulevard and Provincias Unidas Avenue. The main neighborhoods in the south are La Tablada, Parque Casado, Las Heras, Las Delicias and Las Flores. The city ends in the Saladillo creek.
Among the neighborhoods in the west are Echesortu, Belgrano, Triángulo, Moderno, Godoy and Fisherton (near the west end of the city, formerly home of hierarchical personnel of English railroad companies established in Rosario). To the north-east there lie the neighborhoods of Pichincha (a red-light district in early 20th century, now home to an open-air antiquities fair), Ludueña, Arroyito (home of the Rosario Central football club), Empalme Graneros, Alberdi, La Florida (with a popular beach resort of the same name) and Rucci.
The main streets in the north are Alberdi Avenue and its continuation, Rondeau Boulevard (which leads to the north exit of the city). They are crossed by several avenues: Las Tres Vías, Génova, Sorrento and Puccio.
The coast
An important part of Rosario's urban character is its coastline. The city recovered the shore of the Paraná not long ago, thanks to a reorganization of terrains owned by the port and the national railroad system that took up the space. Going from the center immediately north of the port, the coastline is occupied by parks: Parque Nacional a la Bandera, Parque de España, Parque de las Colectividades and Parque Sunchales.
The Parque de España was funded by Spain's government and was inaugurated in 1993 in the presence of the King and Queen of Spain. The park connects the low shore with the ravine by stairs, under which a culture center is built. The culture center was the seat of some events of the Third International Congress of the Spanish Language (which took place wholly in Rosario, from November 17 to November 20, 2004).
Culture
Holidays and events
- June 20: Día de la Bandera (Flag Day). Commemoration of General Manuel Belgrano's death. National holiday. Military and civic parade at the Flag Memorial, including the world's longest flag (carried by citizens along the Flag Park).
- September: Festival Latinoamericano de Video Rosario (Rosario Latin American Video Festival). Annual event, starting from 1994.
- September-October: Encuentro Internacional de Escultura en Madera-Piedra-Hierro de Rosario (International Meeting of Wood-Stone-Iron Sculpture in Rosario). Annual event, since 1993.
- October 7: Día de la Virgen del Rosario (Day of the Virgin of the Rosary, patron of the city). Catholic celebrations and procession. Local public holiday.
- November:
- Encuentro y Fiesta Nacional de Colectividades (Communities Meeting and National Celebration). Annual event, starting in 1985, showcasing music, song, dance, gastronomy and customs of foreign communities in Argentina, in the ample room provided by the Parque Nacional a la Bandera (National Flag Park). In 2004 it was postponed to the beginning of December in order to avoid overlap with the Congress of the Spanish Language.
- Festival Internacional de Poesía de Rosario (International Poetry Festival). Annual event since 1993.
- Festival Iberoamericano de Cine (Ibero-American Film Festival). Annual event since 2003.
Notable people from Rosario
- Leticia Cossetini
- Olga Cossetini
- Antonio Berni
- Lucio Fontana
- Roberto Fontanarrosa
- Che Guevara
- Libertad Lamarque
- Alberto Olmedo
- Juan Carlos Baglietto
- Fito Páez
- Liliana Herrero
- Lisandro de la Torre
- Marcelo Bielsa
- Rafael Bielsa
- Valeria Mazza
External links
- Municipality of Rosario (http://www.rosario.gov.ar/) (in Spanish)
- Rosario.com.ar: La Guía Comercial del Gran Rosario (http://www.rosario.com.ar/) (in Spanish)
- Turismo in Rosario (http://www.rosarioturismo.com/) (in Spanish)
- Government of Santa Fe Province (http://www.santafe.gov.ar/) (in Spanish)
- III Congreso Internacional de la Lengua Española (http://www.congresodelalengua3.ar/home.htm) (in Spanish)
- Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR) (http://www.unr.edu.ar/) (in Spanish)
- Diario La Capital (http://www.lacapital.com.ar/) (Newspaper from Rosario, in Spanish)
- Diario El Ciudadano & la Región (http://www.elciudadano.net/) (Newspaper from Rosario, in Spanish)
- Bolsa de Comercio de Rosario (BCR) (http://www.bcr.com.ar/) (Commodities market in Rosario, in Spanish)
- Rosario Alternativo (http://www.dialogica.com.ar/rosarioalternativo/) (Short stories for the ilustrated traveller, in Spanish)ca:Rosario
de:Rosario es:Rosario (Argentina) no:Rosario, Argentina sv:Rosario