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Buenos Aires
Argentina’s capital city is located within the Capital Federal District and forms one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas. Buenos Aires is an elegant shoppers’ paradise and cosmopolitan centre that takes pride in its cultural establishments. There are now few reminders of the city’s glorious past, although the immense Catedral Metropolitana (Metropolitan Cathedral), which contains the remains of San Martn, Argentina’s liberator, is a notable exception. So is the famous Teatro Coln, the world’s largest opera house (with a capacity of 2500 seats), which occupies an entire block on the massive Avenida 9 de Julio, the city’s major thoroughfare with its Obelisco (obelisk) at the intersection with Avenida Corrientes (the traditional theatre, cinema and nightlife district). Also worth a visit are the Isaac Fernndez Blanco Museum of Spanish-American Art, which houses an important silverware collection and is located in a beautiful neo-colonial mansion; the Ambrosetti Museum and the Museum of Colonial History. The old artists’ quarter of La Boca, home of the tango, is located along a narrow waterway lined by meat-packing plants and warehouses. Visitors can see a tango show at one of several tango bars for approximately US$40-60. The San Telmo borough, one of the oldest parts of the city and particularly known for the Manzana de las Luces (Block of Enlightenment), has also preserved its artistic spirit. The city’s oldest church, the Jesuit Iglesia San Ignacio, is located here. San Telmo has many cafes, antique shops, tango night spots and a Sunday flea market on Plaza Dorrego. Buenos Aires’ open spaces are particularly notable in the northern part, where a succession of parks stretch for miles along the River Plate.
The Palermo neighbourhood contains the Jardn Botnico Carlos Thays (Botanical Gardens), the Jardn Zoolgico (zoo), the Campo de Polo (polo grounds), the Hipdromo (racetrack) and the Planetarium.
The city’s main shopping districts are located around the microcentro (north of Avenida de Mayo), which icludes popular tourist areas like the Florida and Lavalle pedestrian malls, the Plaza San Martn, and the commercial and entertainment areas of Corrientes, Crdoba and the fashionable Santa Fe. North of the microcentro is the chic and upper-class Recoleta borough, famous for its Cementerio de la Recoleta (where many members of Argentina’s lite are buried) and the renowned Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts), which has works by Renoir, Rodin, Monet, Van Gogh and numerous Argentine artists. Near the presidential palace, the neighbourhood known as Puerto Madero is now in serious competition with Recoleta to become the city’s most chic quarter. Many of the port’s 19th-century warehouses and docks have been transformed into Manhattan-style lofts, expensive restaurants, trendy nightclubs, new office blocks and a university campus.
Further southeast is the Costanera Sur National Park, a nature reserve close to the banking district.
Argentina’s most important devotional site (attracting millions of pilgrims every year), is the neo-gothic Baslica Nuestra Seora de Lujn (whose day is 8 May), which is located 70km (43 miles) west of Buenos Aires. Around 113km (71 miles) west of the capital lies the village of San Antonio de Areco, the centre of Argentina’s gaucho tradition and host to the Da de la Tradicin, the country’s biggest gaucho celebration held annually in November. The village is also known for its artisans, who specialise in mate (paraphernalia), rastras (silver-studded belts) and facones (knives). The country town of Capilla del Seor can be visited on a day trip with an old historic steam train (tickets should be purchased a week in advance).
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