Puerto San Julián
| Basic data | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| location | 49 ° 20 ′ S , 67 ° 45 ′ W | ||
| Height above d. M .: | 1 m | ||
| Population (2001): | 6143 | ||
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| administration | |||
| Province : |
 Santa Cruz
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| Department : | Magallanes | ||
| Mayor: | Nelson Daniel Gleadell, Frente para la Victoria | ||
| Others | |||
| Postal code : | Z9310 | ||
Puerto San Julián (formerly also English Port St Julian ) is a natural harbor in the Argentine province of Santa Cruz in Patagonia . It is located on the Atlantic coast, between the ports of Puerto Deseado in the north and Puerto Santa Cruz in the south. In the days of sailing ships, this was a regular anchorage on the Cape Horn route 180 kilometers south of Puerto Deseado . Today Puerto San Julián is also the name of a small town with 6,100 inhabitants (as of 2001) at the port and capital of the Magallanes department .
history
The port got its name from the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan , who docked here on March 31, 1520 and spent the winter in the port. Magellan and his team met locals who were described by Antonio Pigafetta as "giants" and called them Patagonians , which means "big feet". In early April, Magellan faced a mutiny led by his Spanish captains but defeated them, executed the mutineers' leaders - two captains - and left another captain and a clergyman in Puerto San Julián. Magellan left the port on August 21, 1520 and on October 21 found the eastern entrance of the passage he had been looking for and which now bears his name.
58 years later, on June 20, 1578, Francis Drake came to Port St Julian on his circumnavigation . He found the remains of the gallows on which Magellan had executed the mutineers. Drake, too, had problems with his crew's discontent during his voyage, accusing his friend Thomas Doughty of treason and incitement to mutiny. In an impromptu trial, Doughty was found guilty and executed on July 1. Drake used a sermon ten days later to announce new, stricter rules of conduct and to manifest his sole position of power. In August the British left Port St. Julian in the direction of the Strait of Magellan .
The port continued to be a point of contact on trips to South America and thus became a stop on the journey of the HMS Beagle , which arrived here in January 1834. While the Beagle's crew were doing their hydrographic studies, Charles Darwin explored the interesting geology of the cliffs near the harbor and found fossils he believed to be the spine and hind leg of a mastodon . After returning to England, the scientist Richard Owen found out that the bones actually came from a huge llama . During the Falklands War in 1982, the airport was used by the Argentine Air Force . Two fighter squadrons, with Daggers and Douglas A-4 Skyhawks , flew 149 sorties against the British during the 45 days of the war.
traffic
Puerto San Julián is on National Road 3 , about 370 kilometers north of Río Gallegos and 430 kilometers south of Comodoro Rivadavia . Another road leads west through the plain and forks after about 80 kilometers, with the right branch leading to Estancia Maria Esther and the left to Gobernador Gregores on the Río Chico . There is a small airport to the southeast of the city.
Web links
- Website of the city of Puerto San Julián (Spanish)
- IFAM population data (Spanish)
- LiveArgentina.com - City information (Spanish)
