Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cabot optimistically named the river the Río de la Plata (River of Silver) and, to drive
the rumors home, part of the new territory was even given the Latin name for silver
(ar-
gentum)
. But the mineral riches that the Spanish found in the Inca empire of Peru never
panned out in this misnamed land.
The first real attempt at establishing a permanent settlement on the estuary was made
in 1536, by Spanish aristocrat Pedro de Mendoza. He landed at present-day Buenos Aires
but, after the colonists tried pilfering food from the Querandí, the indigenous people
turned on them violently. Within four years Mendoza fled back to Spain without a lick of
silver, and the detachment of troops he left behind beat it upriver to the gentler environs
of Asunción, present-day capital of Paraguay.
Northwest Supremacy
Although Spanish forces reestablished Buenos Aires by 1580, it remained a backwater in
comparison to Andean settlements founded by a separate and more successful Spanish
contingency moving south from Alto Perú (now Bolivia). With ties to the colonial
stronghold of Lima and financed by the bonanza silver mine at Potosí, the Spanish foun-
ded some two dozen cities as far south as Mendoza (1561) during the latter half of the
16th century.
The two most important centers were Tucumán (founded in 1565) and Córdoba
(1573). Tucumán lay in the heart of a rich agricultural region and supplied Alto Perú
with grains, cotton and livestock. Córdoba became an important educational center, and
Jesuit missionaries established
estancias
(ranches) in the sierras to supply Alto Perú with
mules, foodstuffs and wine. Córdoba's Manzana Jesuítica (Jesuit Block) is now the finest
preserved group of colonial buildings in the country, and several Jesuit
estancias
in the
Central Sierras are also preserved. These sites, along with the central plazas of Salta
(founded in 1582) and Tucumán, boast the finest colonial architecture.
The Mission
(1986), starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons, is an epic film about the
Jesuit missions and missionaries in 18th-century South America. It's the perfect kick-off
for a trip to northern Argentina's missions.
Buenos Aires: Bootlegger to Boomtown
As the northwest prospered, Buenos Aires suffered the Crown's harsh restrictions on
trade for nearly 200 years. But because the port was ideal for trade, frustrated merchants
turned to smuggling, and contraband trade with Portuguese Brazil and nonpeninsular
