The city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra was founded by Ñuflo de Chávez on February 26, 1560. Chávez named the new city in honor of his beloved native city in Extremadura, Spain. The city originally lay 220 km east of its current location, on the shores of the Piraí River. But, by the end of the 16th century, the city was moved to its present position, 50 km east of the Cordillera Oriental foothills. Santa Cruz supplied the rest of the colony with cotton, rice, sugar and fruit. It was a prosperous city until the late 1800's. Then, transport routes opened up between Peru's seaports and La Paz, making imported products cheaper than those transported by mule from Santa Cruz.

In the 1950's Santa Cruz was connected through roads and highways with other major centers. Also the completion of the railway line to Brazil in the mid-1950s opened trade routes to the east. Tropical agriculture (sugar, rice, cotton, and soybean plantations) prospered and the city entered a period of expansion and economic growth that continues to the present day.
The city is connected by railways with Brazil and Argentina, and by road with Cochabamba, the Chaco, and Trinidad.

MAIN ATTRACTIONS IN SANTA CRUZ

Piraí River: The riverbanks are ideal for weekend picnics Municipal Zoo: One of the best zoos in South America, features birds, reptiles, mammals, from the region as well as endangered and exotic species.

Plaza 24 de Septiembre: Ideal for relaxing and watching sloths hanging in the tall trees.

The Cathedral: Located on the Plaza 14 de Setiembre, the Cathedral dates back to the early 1600's. Its Religious Art Museum displays religious art working, gold and silver artifact from the Jesuit missions.

Natural History Museum: Display a collection of flora and fauna of the region.

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park: Really worth seeing, this spectacular natural park, about 440 Km northeast of Santa Cruz, has an incredible scenery of waterfalls, rivers, rainforests and a wide variety of flora and fauna (alligators, pink dolphins, caimans, river otters, tapirs, spider monkeys, etc.).

Jesuit Missions: From Santa Cruz, east across the Río Grande, this circuit of Jesuit missions, founded between 1696 and 1760, composed by the mission of San Javier, San Ramón, San Ignacio, Concepción, San Rafael, Santa Ana, and San José de Chiquitos were declared "World Heritage" by the UNESCO World  Heritage Committee on December 12, 1990 in Alberta, Canada.

Samaipata Fortress: 120 Km southwest from Santa Cruz, the entire Inca ruins complex of around 40 hectares was declared "World Heritage" by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee on December, 2nd 1998 in Kyoto, Japan.