San Lorenzo () is a city in the south of the

Province of Santa Fe The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco (divided by the 28th parallel south), Corrientes, Entre R� ...

, Argentina, located 23 km north of Rosario, on the western shore of the Paraná River, and forming one end of the

Greater Rosario Greater Rosario is the metropolitan area of the city of Rosario, in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. This metropolis has a population of about 1.3 million (1,276,000 million inhabitants) thus being Argentina's third most populated urban ...

metropolitan area. It is the head town of the

San Lorenzo Department The San Lorenzo Department (in Spanish, ''Departamento San Lorenzo'') is an administrative subdivision (''departamento'') of Santa Fe Province, Argentina. It is located in the south of the province. It limits with the populous Rosario Department a ...

, and it has about 46,000 inhabitants according to the .

History

Though generally accepted as 1796, San Lorenzo has no certain foundation date, as different historical texts refer to different dates. However, the Municipal Council finally decided in 1984 to settle on 6 May 1796, the date when

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

s came and started the

evangelization In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are ...

of the area. The city was the stage of the

Battle of San Lorenzo The Battle of San Lorenzo was fought on 3 February 1813 in San Lorenzo, Santa Fe, San Lorenzo, Argentina, then part of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. The royalist troops, were composed of militiamen recruited in Montevideo und ...

on 3 February 1813, where troops loyal to the Spanish Crown were defeated by local revolutionaries under General

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...

. The 18th century San Carlos Monastery has a museum devoted to this battle, the first in the Argentine War of Independence, it is also the birthplace of Argentine footballer

Javier Mascherano Javier Alejandro Mascherano (born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Argentina national under-20 team. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder, most not ...

Geography and industries

San Lorenzo is located at the end of the "Industrial corridor" of the Argentine littoral, and hosts processing industries (edible oil, flour), as well as ceramics factories and petrochemical plants. San Lorenzo's port and that of nearby Puerto General San Martín are among the largest export outlets in Argentina for primary products (

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu a ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

and

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

Port of San Lorenzo

San Lorenzo remains among the most prominent ports of Argentina, primarily for the loading of grain. Located on the western banks of Parana river, about 14 miles from Rosario, the port complex comprise three cities: San Lorenzo, Puerto San Martin and Timbues. These ports collectively handle mainly cargoes of grain, vegetable oil, refined products and crude. This also includes the San Lorenzo-Puerto General San Martin Port Complex, an area comprising numerous ports along the Parana river. A number of these berths are private.

References

Additional references: :''In Spanish unless otherwise noted.''
Municipality of San Lorenzo
- Official website. * *
Bienvenidos a Santa Fe
- A web portal of the province of Santa Fe. {{Authority control Cities in Argentina Populated places in Santa Fe Province Paraná River Port settlements in Argentina