Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

The city of Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina and a worldwide metropolis. It is located in the point in which the Rio Paraná becomes the Rio de la Plata opened to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Rio de la Plata and the Riachuelo are the natural limits on the east and south of the city, while on the north and west the avenue general paz. This avenue connects the city with the province of Buenos Aires, a place with a high concentration of population and strong economic activity.
Buenos Aires nowadays is the most important city of Argentina; it’s the economic and political heart, has the main harbor and is the seat of the state government. It is a city full of museums, theaters and historical corners, among them all the ones that stand the most out are the Plaza de Mayo, in which its located la Casa Rosada seat of the Executive branch; the famous Colon Theater, one of the most famous theaters in the world; the cemetery of the Recoleta the oldest and aristocratic one in the continent and the Obelisco, built to celebrate the fourth centenary of the city foundation and where for the first time the Argentinean flag was raised.
It is very popular the neighborhood of La Boca where most of the Italian immigrants of the XIX century established, so different to the San Isidro, a high class residential neighborhood. Other attractions are The Mezquita of Palermo, the biggest Islamic temple in South America and Tierra Santa, the only religious park in continent, where images of Jerusalem of more than 2.000 years old are reproduced.
Many personalities had been born in the city, writers as Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares, musical symbols as Carlos Gardel (writer and interpreter of tangos, like “Mi Buenos Aires querido” or “Volver) and the politician Evita.

The city of the tango and football

Among the external symbols of the city we can find The Tango which many architectural works had been dedicated to, one of them is the pedestrian bridge in Puerto Madero made by Santiago Calatrava. This work represents a couple dancing tango where the white mast is the man and the curved figure of the bridge is the woman. This kind of music is heard in every neighborhood of the city, although the most traditional ones are San Telmo and El Abasto.
Also stands out in the city the passion for football, almost half of the Argentinean teams among them the well-known River Plate and Boca Juniors, belong to Buenos Aires.
The Casa Rosada “The Pink House”
This palace known as the Casa Rosada “Pink House”, is the seat of the executive branch. Located where the fortress of Buenos Aires was, is composed by two buildings, no identical, joined by a central arch which can be reached through the Plaza de Mayo. The meaning of the pink colour is that symbolizes the union of two historical oppositte political ideologies, the strong red of the federales and the white of the unitarios.

The Plaza de Mayo

This square is the place in which the city of Buenos Aires was born, in the centre of it there is a white pyramid that holds up the statue of the republic. Opposite to the square is the colonial Cabildo, symbol of the independence and next to it are the Cathedral, the Pink House and some ministries.

The Colon theater and the National library of Argentina

This neoclassic building was inaugurated in 1908 twenty years after was built. Is the biggest and most important one of South America with an attendance of 4200 people. Many concerts, operas and ballet shows are exhibited.
The national library was inaugurated in 1992, in this modern building the famous writer Jose Luis Borges used to write his works. The building is composed by three huge underground deposits and an elevated body supported by four impressive mainstays.

The Colon Theater

National Library

Written by: Daniel Blachere
Posted by: Fernando Cabrera
Translation: Lucas Ensinck
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