Los Angeles: Sports and recreation: …is the sprawling 239-square-mile (619-square-km) Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (1978), the largest such preserve in an American metropolis. Jointly managed by the U.S. National Park Service, the California Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the area includes some existing homes but restricts permanent…

mystery religion: Painting: In the Mithraeum under Sta. Prisca in Rome, two layers of frescoes were found that show the procession of the initiates toward ritual sacrifice of a bull, called Suovetaurilia, and the sacred meal of the sun god and Mithra. Sometimes a fresco replaced the relief of the sacrifice of…

Jerónimo de Balbás: …the gilded altar in the Church of Santa Prisca y San Sebastián in the mining town of Taxco, constructed in the 1750s, which epitomizes the Churrigueresque style. For this altar, Isidoro elaborated on his father’s style by having vegetal decoration cascade from the estípites, which also support tiny figures of…

José de Santa Rita Durão was a Brazilian epic poet, best known for his long poem Caramúru. Durão was a pioneer in his use of the South American Indians as subjects of literature. After an education at the Jesuit college in Rio de Janeiro, Durão obtained the degree of doctor of theology (1756) at

Santa River, river, west-central Peru, rising in the snowcapped Nevado de Tuco in the Andean Cordillera Blanca and flowing into Aguash and Conococha lakes. From the latter it emerges as the Santa River; it then flows northwest, descending from 14,000 to 7,000 ft (4,300 to 2,100 m) above sea level,

Santa Rosa, city, seat (1854) of Sonoma county, western California, U.S. It is situated on Santa Rosa Creek, at the foot of the Sonoma Mountains, 50 miles (80 km) north-northwest of San Francisco. Founded in 1833 by Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and named for St. Rose of Lima, it developed as a

Guadalupe: …railroads at the town of Santa Rosa in the early 20th century and the building of U.S. Route 66 across the county in the 1930s stimulated development.

Santa Rosa, city, capital of La Pampa provincia (province), central Argentina. It is located in the northeast-central part of the province in the heart of the Pampas region. Founded in 1892, the city developed as an agricultural centre processing grain (wheat) and cattle from the eastern part of

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, scenic and biologically diverse mountain area of far southern California, U.S. The monument encompasses the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto ranges, two short segments of the Pacific mountain system that extend south and southeastward from the San

Santa Rosa de Cabal, city, Risaralda department, west central Colombia, on the western slopes of the Andean Cordillera (mountains) Central. It is a commercial and manufacturing centre for the fertile agricultural and pastoral hinterland. Silkworms are raised in the vicinity, and there are silver,

Santa Rosa de Copán, city, northwestern Honduras. It is located in the highlands at 3,806 feet (1,160 metres) above sea level, near the Alash Higuito River, a tributary of the Mejocote. Founded in the 18th century, it was called Los Llanos until 1812 and Los Llanos de Santa Rosa thereafter. In 1843

Channel Islands: Santa Rosa Island is leased by its former owners for game hunting; the remains of Pleistocene pygmy mammoths have been excavated there. Santa Cruz Island has two rugged ranges (rising to Mount Diablo at 2,450 feet [747 metres] in the north), a central valley, and…

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument: The monument encompasses the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto ranges, two short segments of the Pacific mountain system that extend south and southeastward from the San Bernardino Mountains (the southernmost portion of the California Coast Ranges). The monument covers some 425 square miles (1,100 square km). Created a national…

Rome: The Aventine: The basilica of Santa Sabina, little altered since the 5th century, is lined with 24 magnificent matching Corinthian columns rescued out of Christian charity from an abandoned pagan temple or palace. The Parco Savello, a small public park, was the walled area of the Savello family fortress, one…

Alejandro Jodorowsky: Later films, comic books, and psychomagic: In Santa Sangre (1989; Holy Blood), insane-asylum inmate Fenix (Jodorowsky’s son Axel) remembers his childhood growing up in the circus and the horrific event of his father’s cutting off his mother’s arms and then killing himself. Fenix escapes from the institution and reunites with his mother. However, under her…

Western architecture: Italy: …II, built the monastery of Santa Scolastica, Subiaco (1774–77), with a barrel-vaulted nave characteristic of the new taste. In 1787 the first baseless Greek Doric columns in Italy appeared in the Chiesetta di Piazza di Siena in the gardens of the Villa Borghese, Rome, designed by Mario Asprucci, 20 years…

Guarino Guarini: In San Lorenzo (1668–87) and Santa Sindone (1667–90; “Holy Shroud”) in Turin, Guarini, working on a centralized plan, converted domes to an open lacework of interwoven masonry arches. (Santa Sindone was extensively damaged by fire in 1997, and the chapel was closed indefinitely for restoration work.) Although its design and…

Andrea Mantegna: Formative years in Padua: …altarpiece for the church of Santa Sofia (1448), now lost, demonstrates his precocity, since it was unusual for so young an artist to receive such a commission. Mantegna himself proudly called attention to his youthful ability in the painting’s inscription: “Andrea Mantegna from Padua, aged 17, painted this with his…

Western architecture: Origins and development in Rome: …facade of the church of Santa Susanna. Roman church facades in the late 16th century tended to be either precise, elegant, and papery thin or disjointed, equivocal, and awkwardly massive. Maderno’s Santa Susanna facade is an integrated design in which each element contributes to the central culminating feature. Precision and…

Nueva San Salvador, city, west-central El Salvador. Founded in 1854 as Nueva Ciudad de San Salvador at the southern base of San Salvador Volcano, it briefly became the national capital when San Salvador (7 miles [11 km] east) was devastated by an earthquake. In 1859 the seat of government was moved

Cimabue: …restoration has been completed; the Sta. Trinità Madonna, an altarpiece now in Florence’s Uffizi; and the Madonna Enthroned with St. Francis, in the lower church of S. Francesco at Assisi.

Bartolommeo Ammannati: …Florence are the Bridge of Santa Trinità (1567–69; destroyed 1944, rebuilt 1958), which contains elliptical arches, and the Fountain of Neptune (1567–70); the latter, in the Piazza della Signoria, features a colossal marble statue of that deity. In his old age Ammannati was strongly influenced by the Counter-Reformation philosophy of…

United States Virgin Islands, organized unincorporated island territory of the United States, situated at the eastern end of the Greater Antilles, about 40 miles (64 km) east of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean Sea. The territory is geographically part of the Virgin Islands group, which

La Plata River: …on the western slope of Mount Santa (2,963 feet [903 metres]), a peak of the Sierra de Cayey. Part of the stream is impounded by Lake Carite; the reservoir’s outlet diverts waters for a series of hydroelectric stations on the Guamaní River in the coastal Guayama area to the south.…

Santa-Clara, cape situated on the Atlantic coast of northwestern Gabon, Africa. Extending south from the larger peninsula that separates the Gabon estuary from Corisco Bay, the cape juts into the mouth of the estuary. Santa-Clara is located 12 miles (20 km) north of Libreville and just north of

Italian literature: Poetry after World War II: Also notable are Mario Santagostini, whose early work described the drab outskirts of his native Milan but who moved on to more metaphysical monologues, and Biancamaria Frabotta, who combined militant feminism with an elevated lyric diction tending toward the sublime.

Santhal, ethnic group of eastern India, numbering well over five million at the turn of the 21st century. Their greatest concentration is in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha, in the eastern part of the country. Some 200,000 also live in Bangladesh and more than 10,000 in

Santalaceae, the sandalwood family (order Santalales), which includes about 44 genera and more than 1,000 species of semiparasitic shrubs, herbs, and trees, distributed in tropical and temperate regions. The majority of the Santalaceae are root parasites; the others are stem parasites. In some

Santalales, the sandalwood order of flowering plants, consisting of 7 or 14 families, 151 genera, and about 1,990 species. All the families in Santalales are parasitic to some degree, attaching to either roots or branches of their hosts. They include Santalaceae, Loranthaceae, Balanophoraceae,

David Sedaris: …1992, reading his story “The SantaLand Diaries,” which recounted his experiences as a Christmas elf at Macy’s department store in Manhattan. Within months of the broadcast, Sedaris’s essays began to appear in such magazines as Harper’s, The New Yorker, and Esquire. His first book, Barrel Fever, which

Santali language, a Munda language spoken primarily in the east-central Indian states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Orissa. At the turn of the 21st century there were approximately 6 million speakers of Santali, some 4.8 million of whom lived in India, more than 150,000 in Bangladesh, and about

sandalwood, (genus Santalum), genus of about 25 species of semiparasitic plants of the family Santalaceae, especially the fragrant wood of the true, or white, sandalwood, Santalum album. The group is distributed throughout southeastern Asia, Australia, and islands of the South Pacific. A true

quandong, (Santalum acuminatum), small hemiparasitic tree of the sandalwood family (Santalaceae), useful for its edible fruit and seeds. The plant is native to Australia and has a long history of use by Aboriginal peoples. The nutritious red pulpy flesh of the fruit has a distinctive flavour and is

sandalwood: …the true, or white, sandalwood, Santalum album. The group is distributed throughout southeastern Asia, Australia, and islands of the South Pacific.

Haydée Santamaría Cuadrado was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who became one of the most prominent women in Cuba under the government of Fidel Castro. Santamaría and her brother Abel fought beside Castro during the abortive 1953 coup that provided the name for his 26th of July Movement. Both

Alajuela: It was the home of Juan Santamaría, a Costa Rican soldier and hero of the defense against the invasion by the American filibuster (military adventurer) William Walker in 1856. The local Cultural Historical Museum is named in Santamaría’s honour, as is the country’s principal airport, which is located 2 miles…

Carlos Santana: Santana, featuring the top-10 hit “Evil Ways,” peaked at number four on the album charts in 1969. Abraxas, with the hits “Black Magic Woman” and “Oye Como Va,” reached number one the next year. Santana III (1971) and Caravanserai (1972) followed.

Santana, American musical group whose use of salsa and mambo-style percussion exposed a wide rock audience to traditional Latin American music. The primary early members were Carlos Santana (b. July 20, 1947, Autlán de Navarro, Mexico), Gregg Rolie (b. June 17, 1947, Seattle, Washington, U.S.),

Santana, American musical group whose use of salsa and mambo-style percussion exposed a wide rock audience to traditional Latin American music. The primary early members were Carlos Santana (b. July 20, 1947, Autlán de Navarro, Mexico), Gregg Rolie (b. June 17, 1947, Seattle, Washington, U.S.),

Mogi das Cruzes, city, southeastern São Paulo estado (state), southeastern Brazil. It lies at 2,493 feet (760 metres) above sea level on the Tietê River, just east of São Paulo city. Formerly known as M’bboygi and Santana das Cruzes de Mogi Mirim, it gained town status in 1611 and was made the seat

Santana: …and “Oye Como Va,” and Santana III (1971), featuring new guitarist Neal Schon, followed. With Caravanserai (1972) the group shifted toward jazz. Musicians began leaving the band—most notably Rolie and Schon, who formed Journey. Influenced in part by the philosophy of Sri Chinmoy, Carlos Santana continued excursions into jazz-rock with

Santana: …mostly instrumental Shape Shifter (2012); Santana IV (2016), recorded with almost all the original band members; Power of Peace (2017), a collaboration with the Isley Brothers; and the acclaimed Africa Speaks (2019), which featured the vocals of flamenco-fusion artist Buika and was produced by Rick Rubin.

Carlos Santana is a Mexican-born American musician whose popular music combined rock, jazz, blues, and Afro-Cuban rhythms with a Latin sound. Santana began playing the violin at age five; by age eight, however, he had switched to the guitar. As a teenager, he played in bands in Tijuana, Mexico,

Dominican Republic: Caudillos of the Dominican Republic: …the Dominican Republic, most notably Pedro Santana and Buenaventura Báez, two dictatorial presidents who prevented the growth of democracy and sold out the country to foreign and commercial interests. Santana’s maladministration and heavy military spending (to ward off Haitian attacks) bankrupted the nation, and in 1861 he invited Spain to…

turtle: Origin and evolution: The oldest sea turtle (Santanachelys gaffneyi) is known from the mid-Cretaceous. It is a member of the Protostegidae, a likely sister group of modern leatherback sea turtles. S. gaffneyi had a streamlined shell of about 1.5 metres (5 feet) and forelimbs well along the evolutionary path to becoming flippers.

Santander, port city, capital of Cantabria provincia (province) and comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), northern Spain. It is situated on the narrow coastline along the southern shore of Cape Mayor, a rocky peninsula extending eastward and sheltering Santander Bay (an inlet of the Bay of

Cantabria, provincia (province) in Cantabria comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), northern Spain, bordering the Bay of Biscay. It is popularly known as La Montaña (“The Mountain”) for its highlands that increase in elevation toward the south. Principal towns in Cantabria include Santander,

Cantabria, comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) and historic region of Spain, coextensive with the northern Spanish provincia (province) of Cantabria. Cantabria is bounded by the Bay of Biscay to the north and by the autonomous communities of Basque Country to the east, Castile-León to the

Francisco de Paula Santander was a soldier and statesman who fought beside Simón Bolívar in the war for South American independence and who served as president of the newly formed New Granada (Colombia) from 1833 until 1837. Santander left law school in 1810 to join the patriot army and was

Native American: European populations and polities: …of income, the royal treasurer, Luis de Santángel, urged the monarchs to accept Columbus’s proposal to explore a western route to the East. Although Columbus did not find a route with which to sidestep Ottoman trade hegemony, his journey nonetheless opened the way to overseas wealth. Spain used American resources…

Swan Islands, two islets (Greater and Lesser Swan) in the Caribbean Sea, 97 miles (156 km) north of Honduras. Discovered by Christopher Columbus on St. Anne’s feast day in 1502, they were named Islas Santa Ana. The islands, only 1.6 square miles (4 square km) in area, served as a pirate haunt from

Santarém, city and concelho (municipality), central Portugal. It lies along the Tagus (Tejo) River, 47 miles (76 km) northeast of Lisbon. The city originated as Scalabis (renamed Praesidium Julium by Julius Caesar) in Roman times. It served as an important fortress city in the course of the wars

Santarém, city, west-central Pará estado (state), northern Brazil. It is situated on the right bank of the Tapajós River, near its confluence with the Amazon River. Santarém was founded in 1661 as a Jesuit mission to a Tapajó Indian settlement (aldeia) and grew around a fort built by Pedro

Bernardo Santareno was a poet and dramatist, considered one of Portugal’s leading 20th-century playwrights. Santareno’s university studies at Coimbra were completed in medicine. Subsequently he pursued a dual career in Lisbon as a psychiatrist and writer. Santareno created a stage world reminiscent

Frank Herbert: … (1956), The Green Brain (1966), The Santaroga Barrier (1968), The Heaven Makers (1968), The God Makers (1972), and The Dosadi Experiment (1977).

Dan Santat is an American author and illustrator who is primarily known for his children’s books and graphic novels. He won the Caldecott Medal for most distinguished picture book in 2015 for his mixed-media illustrations in The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (2014), which he also

George Santayana was a Spanish-American philosopher, poet, and humanist who made important contributions to aesthetics, speculative philosophy, and literary criticism. From 1912, he resided in Europe, chiefly in France and Italy. George Santayana was born in Madrid of Spanish parents. He never

Santee, a major group within the Sioux (q.v.) nation of North American Indians. Santee descendants numbered more than 3,200 individuals in the early 21st

Santee River, River, southeast-central South Carolina, U.S. The Santee flows southeast into the Atlantic Ocean after a course of 143 mi (230 km). It has been dammed to form the reservoir Lake Marion, which is connected by a navigable waterway, Lake Moultrie, and the Cooper River to Charleston. The

Santee-Wateree-Catawba river system, inland waterway 538 miles (866 km) long, in the southeastern United States, rising as the Catawba River in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. The Catawba flows east and then south into South Carolina to Great Falls, a distance of 220 miles (350

Giorgio Santelli was a Hungarian-born Italian fencing master, thought by many to be the greatest American fencing coach of the 20th century. As a small child, Giorgio Santelli began taking fencing lessons from his father, the great Italian master Italo Santelli, who was one of the founders of the

Giorgio Santelli: …father, the great Italian master Italo Santelli, who was one of the founders of the formidable Hungarian school of sabre fencing. By the time he was 25, Santelli had won the Austrian foil and sabre championships and the Hungarian sabre championship.

Jacques Santer is a Luxembourgian politician who served as prime minister of Luxembourg (1984–95) and president of the European Commission (1995–99). Santer graduated from the Athénée de Luxembourg, earned a certificate from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 1959, and studied law at the

Santería, the most common name given to a religious tradition of African origin that was developed in Cuba and then spread throughout Latin America and the United States. Santería was brought to Cuba by the people of the Yoruban nations of West Africa, who were enslaved in great numbers in the

Santhal, ethnic group of eastern India, numbering well over five million at the turn of the 21st century. Their greatest concentration is in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha, in the eastern part of the country. Some 200,000 also live in Bangladesh and more than 10,000 in

Santhal Rebellion, an uprising by thousands of members of the Santhal tribe in 1855–56 in eastern India, under the rule of the British East India Company (1757–1858). The movement was a reaction to exploitation by local moneylenders and landlords and policies of the British administration in the

Santhal Rebellion, an uprising by thousands of members of the Santhal tribe in 1855–56 in eastern India, under the rule of the British East India Company (1757–1858). The movement was a reaction to exploitation by local moneylenders and landlords and policies of the British administration in the

Santhal Rebellion, an uprising by thousands of members of the Santhal tribe in 1855–56 in eastern India, under the rule of the British East India Company (1757–1858). The movement was a reaction to exploitation by local moneylenders and landlords and policies of the British administration in the

Santali language, a Munda language spoken primarily in the east-central Indian states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Orissa. At the turn of the 21st century there were approximately 6 million speakers of Santali, some 4.8 million of whom lived in India, more than 150,000 in Bangladesh, and about

Hinduism: Ethical and social doctrines: …from every evil also involved shanti, the observance of various customs regarding the avoidance of inauspicious occurrences. Ritual purity was the principal concern of the compilers of the manuals of dharma (religious law), which have contributed much to the special character of Hinduism. According to the authorities on dharma, ritual…

Buddhism: From Myanmar to the Mekong delta: Two late 20th-century Buddhist groups, Santi Asoke (founded 1975) and Dhammakaya, are especially interesting. Santi Asoke, a lay-oriented group that advocates stringent discipline, moral rectitude, and political reform, has been very much at odds with the established ecclesiastical hierarchy. The Dhammakaya group has been much more successful at gathering a…

Rome: The Caelian: The basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, from the 5th century, stands in a piazza that has few buildings later than the Middle Ages. Alongside the church are the remains of the platform of the Temple of Claudius, dismantled partly by Nero, completely by Vespasian. The round church…

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta: …Chapel of the Sacrament in Santi Giovanni e Paolo. The “Ecstasy of St. Francis,” perhaps his finest religious work, dates from about 1732, and some three years later he was commissioned to execute an “Assumption” for the elector of Cologne. The celebrated “Fortune Teller” is dated 1740. “The Pastoral” and…

Rome: The Caelian: …abbey left in Rome stands Santi Quattro Coronati, today sheltering nuns. The basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, from the 5th century, stands in a piazza that has few buildings later than the Middle Ages. Alongside the church are the remains of the platform of the Temple of Claudius, dismantled…

Raphael was a master painter and architect of the Italian High Renaissance. Raphael is best known for his Madonnas and for his large figure compositions in the Vatican. His School of Athens in the Stanza della Segnatura, a room in Pope Julius II’s private apartments in the Vatican, is perhaps the

Santiago, capital of Chile. It lies on the canalized Mapocho River, with views of high Andean peaks to the east. Santiago is the largest city in Chile and is also one of the most populous in Latin America. The city’s skyline, dotted with sleek modern skyscrapers, stands in contrast to its

Santiago, largest and most populous island of Cabo Verde, in the Atlantic Ocean, about 400 miles (640 km) off the West African coast. The land rises to its highest elevation at Antónia Peak, 4,566 feet (1,392 metres) above sea level. Santiago is Cabo Verde’s most agriculturally productive island.

Santiago de los Caballeros, city, northern Dominican Republic. It is situated on the Yaque del Norte River, in the heart of the fertile Cibao Valley, and is known as the capital of the Cibao region. Santiago de los Caballeros is the country’s second largest city and is more traditional than the

Antigua Guatemala, city, southwestern Guatemala, at an elevation of 5,029 feet (1,533 meters). Antigua is nestled in the central highlands of Guatemala and was one of the principal centers of colonial administration, religion, and culture in the region that encompasses much of Central America.

Santiago de Compostela, city, A Coruña provincia (province), capital of the comunidad autonóma (autonomous community) of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It lies near the confluence of the Sar and Sarela rivers, 32 miles (51 km) southwest of A Coruña city. In 1985 UNESCO designated the city a World

San Salvador Island, one of the Galapagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean about 600 miles (965 km) west of mainland Ecuador. Its relief is dominated by two volcanoes, the larger rising to 1,700 feet (520 m), that form the mass of the island’s area of 203 square miles (526 square km).

Santiago, región metropolitana, central Chile, bordering Argentina on the east, Valparaíso region on the north and west, and O’Higgins region on the south. Santiago, created a province in 1826 and a metropolitan region in 1974, is divided into the provinces of Santiago, Chacabuco, Cordillera,

Santiago, city, western Panama. It is located in the Pacific lowlands north of Puerto Mutis, its port on the estuary of the San Pedro River (emptying into the Gulf of Montijo). One of the oldest settlements in Panama, the city flourished in the colonial era, and many fine old buildings remain. It

Santiago de Compostela, city, A Coruña provincia (province), capital of the comunidad autonóma (autonomous community) of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It lies near the confluence of the Sar and Sarela rivers, 32 miles (51 km) southwest of A Coruña city. In 1985 UNESCO designated the city a World

Santiago de Compostela: In 1078 the present cathedral was begun by order of Alfonso VI of Leon and Castile. This Romanesque building, located at the east end of the Plaza del Obradoiro, has a Baroque west facade (the Obradoiro) built (1738–50) by Fernando Casas y Novoa. An outstanding feature of the interior…

Santiago de Compostela: The Camino de Santiago, designated a World Heritage site in 1993, was a series of roads through France and Spain that converged on the city; the route was traveled each year throughout the Middle Ages by thousands of pilgrims. The city remained a site of pilgrimage…

Santiago de Cuba, city, eastern Cuba. The second largest city in the country, it nestles in a valley of the Sierra Maestra that is pierced by a pouch-shaped bay on the Caribbean Sea. The bay’s entrance, cutting into high bluffs that rise from the sea, is nearly invisible offshore. The chief bluff,

Battle of Santiago de Cuba, concluding naval engagement of the Spanish-American War, fought on July 3, 1898, near Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. The battle sealed the U.S. victory over the Spaniards. On May 19, 1898, a month after the outbreak of hostilities between the two powers, a Spanish fleet under

Guayaquil, largest city and chief port of Ecuador. It is situated on the west bank of the Guayas River, 45 miles (72 km) upstream from the Gulf of Guayaquil of the Pacific Ocean. The original Spanish settlement was founded in the 1530s at the mouth of the Babahoyo River, just east of the present

Spanish Town, city, southeast-central Jamaica. It is situated along the Rio Cobre, some 10 miles (16 km) west of Kingston. Probably laid out by Diego Columbus (c. 1523), it was originally called Santiago de la Vega (St. James of the Plain), and it was Jamaica’s capital from 1692 until 1872. It is

Caracas, city, capital of Venezuela, and one of the principal cities of South America. It is Venezuela’s largest urban agglomeration and the country’s primary centre of industry, commerce, education, and culture. Founded in 1567 as Santiago de León de Caracas, the city grew slowly until the 1940s,

Santiago de los Caballeros, city, northern Dominican Republic. It is situated on the Yaque del Norte River, in the heart of the fertile Cibao Valley, and is known as the capital of the Cibao region. Santiago de los Caballeros is the country’s second largest city and is more traditional than the

Antigua Guatemala, city, southwestern Guatemala, at an elevation of 5,029 feet (1,533 meters). Antigua is nestled in the central highlands of Guatemala and was one of the principal centers of colonial administration, religion, and culture in the region that encompasses much of Central America.

Querétaro, city, capital of Querétaro estado (state), central Mexico. Situated on the Mexican Plateau at an elevation of about 6,100 feet (1,860 meters) above sea level, it is some 130 miles (210 km) northwest of Mexico City. Querétaro is considered an excellent example of a Spanish colonial city;

Santiago de Surco, distrito (district), southeastern Lima–Callao metropolitan area, Peru. Created in about 1824 (reorganized 1893 and 1929), it stretches eastward from the Surco River to the foothills of the Andes and is bisected from north to south by the Pan-American Highway. The surrounding area

Santiago del Estero, provincia (province), north-central Argentina. It is located mostly at the southwestern margins of the vast Gran Chaco lowland plains, but it also extends onto the piedmont of the Andes Mountains in the far west. The city of Santiago del Estero, on the west-central border, is

Santiago del Estero, city, capital of Santiago del Estero provincia (province), northwestern Argentina, and the oldest continuous settlement in the country. It was founded in 1553 by Spaniards coming from Peru, led by Francisco de Aguirre, and it was moved slightly south in 1556 to its present

Santiago, capital of Chile. It lies on the canalized Mapocho River, with views of high Andean peaks to the east. Santiago is the largest city in Chile and is also one of the most populous in Latin America. The city’s skyline, dotted with sleek modern skyscrapers, stands in contrast to its

San Salvador Island, one of the Galapagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean about 600 miles (965 km) west of mainland Ecuador. Its relief is dominated by two volcanoes, the larger rising to 1,700 feet (520 m), that form the mass of the island’s area of 203 square miles (526 square km).

Santiago Mountains, segment of the southern Rocky Mountains that extends southeastward for about 35 miles (56 km) across southwestern Texas, U.S. The highest point, Santiago Peak (6,535 feet [1,992 metres]), was used as a lookout by the Apache, and remnants of an old Apache campsite are still