Salta Travel Guide: History of Salta

Originally intended to serve as an outpost between the competing ports of Callao near Lima in Peru and Buenos Aires in Argentina, the city of Salta was founded on April 16, 1582 by Spanish settler Hernando de Lerma. Prior to its colonization by the Spanish, this area was for centuries home to sheepherders and hunters, who lived for centuries under the vast empire of the Incas, ruling from the distant territory of Lake Titikaka and Cuzco in present day Peru. Nicknamed ‘Salta la Linda’ (Salta the Fair) for its ideal location along the trade route in the lush spinach bowl of La Lerma Valley; the city of Salta has grown in recent years to become a backpacker and outdoor enthusiast’s paradise known for its wide variety of activities, great nightlife and beautifully preserved colonial and neoclassical architecture.

Renamed a variety of times, the city has always maintained the original name of Salta, a word whose origin can be found in two opposing meanings and languages.  One hypothesis refers to the word’s origin in the Quechua (Incan) language, which means “a pleasant place to settle down.”  The second could possibly refer to the sahta tribe of the Chaco nation, which was thought to have resided in the valley at the times when the Spanish arrived, or from the phrase “sagta sagta”, which means very beautiful.   

The city served as a strategic commercial and military supply post during the Argentine War of Independence, where from 1816 to 1821 the city was led by General Martín Miguel de Güemes, who succeeded in keeping the city out of invading Spanish hands. Salta emerged from the War of Independence politically in disarray and financially bankrupt, a condition that lingered throughout much of the 19th century. However, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the arrival of Italian, Spanish and Arab immigrants, particularly Syrians and Lebanese, revived trade and agriculture all over the area while further enhancing the city's multicultural flavor.