Arroyito () is a city in

Córdoba Province, Argentina Córdoba () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Its neighboring provinces are (clockwise from the north) Santiago del Estero Province, Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe, Buenos ...

. It is located east of

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, on both sides of National Route 19. Arroyito earned the nickname Sweet City (''Ciudad Dulce'').

Etymology

Arroyito can be translated as "little stream", or "little brook". It was named after a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

(now disappeared) that crossed this settlement and landed on the Xanaes river. The first records referred to this settlement as ''paraje del Arroyito'' or ''El Arroyito''.

History

Early settlement

It is not clear when Arroyito was founded. The oldest document that mentions it was the first

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ( or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was ...

on 23 November 1778, with a resulting population of 220 inhabitants. This hamlet was known as ''Villa Arroyito'', and was the place chosen by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

soldier José Ignacio Urquía to build a church dedicated to the

Virgin of Mercy The Virgin of Mercy is a subject in Christian art, showing a group of people sheltering for protection under the outspread cloak, or pallium, of the Virgin Mary. It was especially popular in Italy from the 13th to 16th centuries, often as a spec ...

, completed in 1790. In 1865, the total population for Arroyito was 228 inhabitants, according to the first census in Argentina.

Economy

The first main economic activity of Arroyito was forest-spacing. Baldassare Dalle Mura and Raffaello Bianchi, both

Italian immigrants The Italian diaspora (, ) is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Unification of Italy, and ended in the 1920s ...

from

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, were the owners of the two most important

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

s of that time. As the land emptied, other people used it for

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. But the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

directly attacked the raw material that sustained the sawmills, so they had to close, giving rise to emigration and decline. Primera fabrica arcor

In the early 1950s, a group of young entrepreneurs led by Fulvio Salvador Pagani decided to come together to set up a

candy Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a Confectionery, confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum ...

factory. The dream was to offer consumers around the world quality products at a fair price became true on 5 July 1951 with the opening of the first candy factory. This is how

Arcor Arcor is an Argentine confectionery company. Arcor may also refer to: * Arcor (telecommunications), a German telecommunications company * Arcore (Lombard: ''Arcor''), a municipality in Lombardy, Italy See also * ARCore ARCore, also known as ...

was born, and Arroyito began a definitive new awakening, so the workforce was necessary, causing a very notable population increase.

Twin towns

Verzuolo Verzuolo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about north of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,379 and an area of .All demographi ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(2003)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arroyito, Cordoba Populated places in Córdoba Province, Argentina Cities in Argentina