This neighborhood is called “Argentine Paris” because of the great French immigration since 1840 and its consequent architecture. Within its limits are large cultural spaces, historical monuments, the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Library, the Recoleta Cultural Center and other exhibition pavilions. Let’s first dig a little deeper into its rich history
La Recoleta in Buenos Aires: a bit of history
This neighborhood began to form at the end of the 18th century when the extensive farms and farms of the area that formed it began to be divided and built. It took its name from the Recoletos Descalzos Convent, built on a farm called “Los ombúes”, which was received by the founding neighbor and first mayor. Rodrigo Ortiz de Zarate, in the distribution of lands made by Juan de Garay in 1583.
It was a deserted and lonely place and as the building increased, the slaughterhouse and the North cemetery were established, its appearance changed and transformed. Later, with the creation of Paseo de la Recoleta, it became a luxurious residential neighborhood. The evolution of this neighborhood was rapid, it did not go through the intermediate phase of the modest home of the artisan. The fifths of the place disappeared almost in its entirety until it became one of the most luxurious areas of the City.
Due to the yellow fever epidemic in 1871, the families that inhabited the southern area had to emigrate to the north where they built very refined French-style mansions that changed the architectural landscape of the neighborhood and made it known through the name La Petit París. from Buenos Aires.
Where is Recoleta Neighborhood located in Buenos Aires?
The Recoleta Neighborhood is located on the north part of Buenos Aires. The limits are Uruguay, Guido, Montevideo, Projection of Montevideo, Brig. Gral. Facundo Quiroga, virtual extension of Juan Bibiloni, descent of Autopista Dr. A. Illia (port access) to intersection with Autopista Illia, Avenida Pte. Ramón Castillo, Access Wilson, Av. Tomás Edison, west edge of Dársena D, border North of Dársena D, edges of Dársenas E and F, Avenida Costanera R. Obligado, Jerónimo Salguero, southwest demarcation of railroad tracks former FGBM, former FGSM, former FGB, Tagle, Las Heras, Avenida Coronel Díaz, Mario Bravo, Córdoba Avenue.
What to see in Recoleta Neighborhood, Buenos Aires?
Recoleta is one of the most famous neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. There are many places to visit and discover in this area. Check some of them:
Carlos Thays Park
In the heart of the Recoleta neighborhood, on the site where the old Italpark amusement park operated until 1990, a green space of more than four hectares stands out on Avenida Del Libertador. Distinguished for his sculptures, there are outstanding works such as the statue to the United Nations, by the sculptor Marta Minujín; the “Male Torso”, by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero; the monument “Pro Cultura Nacional”, by the Italian sculptor Alejo Afani; and the work “El Árbol”, by the artist Néstor Basterretxea, donated by the Basque community.
At the corner of Avenida Del Libertador and Avenida Callao stands the old water tower of the Retiro railway complex, a faithful exponent of the English railway architecture developed in Argentina. This 1915 building houses the Museum of Architecture, created towards the end of the year 2000 by the Central Society of Architects with the aim of exhibiting, preserving and disseminating the urban architectural heritage.
The Ateneo Grand Splendid: the famous library
A must see is the Ateneo Gran Esplendid Library. The Grand Splendid Athenaeum was chosen by the British newspaper The Guardian as the second most important bookstore in the world. Hundreds of curious and avid readers pass through it every day who do not stop marveling at the spectacle that surrounds them. Erected over the old Grand Splendid cinema theater in the Recoleta neighborhood, it retains its old splendor and elegance, with the dome decorated with frescoes, the original railings and the intact decoration. In the old stage – with the velvet curtain ajar – there is a bar that invites you to sit down, book in hand. You can also take advantage of the armchairs that are on both sides of the main room or be located in the exclusive boxes that function as small reading rooms. In the basement there is a sector dedicated to children’s books, and the upper floor is dedicated to exhibitions and exhibitions.
Floralis Generica
This imposing 20-meter-high sculpture that dominates the United Nations Square was donated to the City of Buenos Aires by its author, the Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. It is made of stainless steel and aluminum and weighs 18 tons. It is the first moving sculpture controlled by a hydraulic system and photoelectric cells. The work was inaugurated on April 13, 2002. Its name, “Floralis Generica”, is a tribute to all flowers. It is the projection of a dream of its creator, to build a large-scale structure that reflects the dynamism of our time.
A few years after its inauguration it broke because a storm forced its petals and broke the mechanism. La Floralis was open 24 hours a day for years, but on Wednesday June 10, 2015, Floralis Generica recovered the opening and closing movement according to the sun.
Bellas Artes National Museum (National Museum of Fine Arts)
The National Museum of Fine Arts is one of the most important in Latin America and the one with the largest collection of Argentine art in the country. Located in the Recoleta neighborhood, it was inaugurated in 1896, although its current headquarters dates from 1933, in a building renovated at the time by the architect Alejandro Bustillo to receive the permanent collection.
The museum’s international art heritage includes works by El Greco, Goya, Rodin, Rembrandt, Rubens, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, Chagall and Picasso. Among the most important Argentine painters, he has works by Cándido López, Lino Enea Spilimbergo, Prilidiano Pueyrredón, Fernando Fader, Benito Quinquela Martín, Xul Solar, Antonio Berni, Carlos Alonso and Antonio Seguí. The museum also has a photography room, a pre-Columbian Andean art room, two sculpture terraces and a library with 150,000 specimens.
The National Library
The National Library has manuscripts, books, documents, magazines, periodicals, photographs, maps, engravings, audiovisuals and scores, mainly distributed between the “Books” sector and its newspaper library, the most important in Latin America.
The most valuable pieces are housed in the Treasury Room, which contains eleven thousand volumes, of which the majority belong to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, including a folio from the Gütenberg Bible, the first printed book, and twenty-one incunabula from the 15th century.
The National Library, created by Mariano Moreno on September 13, 1810, treasures and protects the materials with which the different ideas and times of the country have been forged. Since then it had four headquarters: the Cabildo de Buenos Aires (1810-1812), the Manzana de las Luces (1812-1901), the luxurious building on Calle México al 500 (1901-1992), which was prepared for the National Lottery , and the current headquarters, the first of its property. Among its most prominent directors, both for their literary activity and for their work in the institution, are Luis Chorroarín, Paul Groussac, Gustavo Martínez Zuviría and Jorge Luis Borges. Born in the upheavals of the May Revolution, a privileged witness to history, the National Library offers, in its reading rooms, auditoriums and exhibitions, an opportunity to rethink the enigmas of our collective culture.
Plaza Francia (Francia Square)
The square owes its name to its central monument, called “France to Argentina”, the work of the French sculptor Edmond Peynot and inaugurated in 1910. It was a gift from the French community to the country on the occasion of the Centenary of the May Revolution. The three allegorical figures in its middle part, made of Carrara marble, represent Science, Industry, Agriculture and the Arts.
The four bronze bas-reliefs evoke central events in the history of both countries: “La Primera Junta de Gobierno Criollo” and “El Paso de los Andes”, in the case of Argentina; and “The Storming of the Bastille” and “The Declaration of Independence” represent France. The two female figures that crown the shaft symbolize both nations, guided by an angel who personifies Glory. The plaques around the monument commemorate personalities of French origin: the grenadier Domingo Porteau, who died during the battle of San Lorenzo in the fight for Argentine Independence, and the writer and journalist Émile Zola. A sculpture by Djibilian Lazaro represents Louis Braille, creator of the literacy system for the blind.
Centro Cultural Recoleta
This building originally housed the convent of the Recollect monks, which gave the neighborhood its name. It was built in 1732 on land donated by Don Fernando de Valdez e Inclán and his wife, according to the design of the Jesuit architects Juan Kraus and Juan Wolf. Andrea Bianchi, another religious architect, was involved in the construction of the façade and the finishing of the interiors. The convent passed into the hands of the State in 1822, after the Reform of the ecclesiastical order. For several years, various uses were given to the building.
In 1859 a beggars’ asylum operated here, and it was then that the architect Juan Antonio Buschiazzo added new pavilions, although the cloisters were preserved intact. A hospital, a barracks and a home for the elderly also operated there. Finally, in 1978 the Cultural Center was projected, and the architects Jacques Bedel, Luis Benedit and Clorindo Testa carried out the necessary reforms respecting the original structure. These works and the previous ones resulted in an eclectic imprint, combining elements of colonial style with Italian and modern features.
The Recoleta Cultural Center has 27 exhibition halls, a microcinema, an auditorium and an amphitheater. Numerous activities take place in the place: exhibitions of visual arts, recitals, concerts, theatrical performances and events. In addition, it has a training area that offers courses and workshops, and a research and music production laboratory equipped with the most advanced technology.
Nuestra Señora del Pilar Church
La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Pilar fue inaugurada en 1732 y declarada Monumento Histórico Nacional en 1942. Está ubicada en el barrio de Recoleta y fue proyectada por los arquitectos jesuitas Bianchi y Prímoli. Hoy en día, se conservan sus majestuosos retablos, imaginería y ornamentos originales. En su origen estaban en las afueras de la ciudad, teniendo en cuenta las reglas de la orden de recogimiento y separación. El que aportó el dinero para la construcción fue un vecino proveniente de Zaragoza y puso la condición de que venerara a la Virgen del Pilar, muy popular en su ciudad de origen. La iglesia consta de una sola nave con un crucero muy desarrollado, cubierto por bóveda vaída. Las capillas laterales son poco profundas. En su interior, se destaca el retablo mayor (barroco), con la imagen titular en el centro y a sus costados dos santos franciscanos. El altar mayor es una pieza muy singular, con ornamentación inca del Alto Perú, muy ricamente trabajado en plata.
Los altares laterales de la única nave, también son barrocos. La talla de madera de San Pedro de Alcántara –copatrono de la iglesia– es del siglo XVIII y se le atribuye al escultor Alonso Cano, mientras que el Altar de las Reliquias, según la tradición, fue un regalo del rey Carlos III de España. El púlpito es también de factura barroca.
The Recoleta Cemetery
The Recoleta Cemetery is located in the exclusive Recoleta neighborhood, which owes its name to the fact that there was the convent of the Recollect monks, to which the neighboring Basilica Nuestra Señora del Pilar also belonged It is the most visited in the city, due to its numerous and imposing mausoleums and vaults, belonging to many of the main protagonists of Argentine history, such as that of Eva Perón (Evita), one of the most popular tombs. It is also worth a visit for its architectural value, since it is a sample of the times when the country was an emerging economic power and the main families of the city competed to build splendid pantheons. Many of the vaults and mausoleums are the work of important architects and are adorned with marbles and sculptures; more than 90 vaults have been declared a National Historic Landmark. It was built in 1822 as the first public cemetery in the city and its layout is the work of the French engineer Próspero Catelin. Then, towards the end of the 19th century, when the more affluent families began to move to this area of the city, it became their favorite necropolis. Among the personalities buried in the Recoleta Cemetery are political leaders, presidents of the Nation, writers, Nobel Prize winners, athletes and businessmen.
The Recoleta Cemetery contains many curious stories in its mausoleums. Like that of Liliana Crociati, who died during her honeymoon and for whom her parents built a vault where they reproduced her bedroom and placed her sculpture at the entrance, wearing her wedding dress with which she was buried and accompanied by her inseparable dog. Or that of David Alleno, caretaker of the cemetery, who saved his whole life to be able to build his own grave there. Also know the history of La Dama de Blanco.
Quintana Avenue
This luminous avenue appears already in 1722 in a plan of the City drawn up by the surveyor Cristóbal Barrientos. At that time it was known as “the long street of Recoleta”. Flanked by large farms in its beginnings, over the years it became one of the main arteries of the neighborhood, with its shops, confectioneries and restaurants.
Located in one of the most beautiful corners of the Recoleta neighborhood (one hundred meters from the Basilica Nuestra Señora del Pilar and the Cemetery), this has been since 1942 the preferred meeting place for several generations of Argentines. Intellectuals of the stature of Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Silvina Ocampo, or internationally renowned athletes such as Froilán González or Charly Menditeguy paraded through its tables served by efficient and discreet waiters.
Alvear Avenue
Alvear Avenue, perhaps the most elegant in the City, was drawn up in 1885 on the initiative of Mayor Torcuato de Alvear. Although it was originally called Bella Vista, it was later baptized in homage to the official’s father, Carlos María de Alvear, a man of outstanding performance at the dawn of Argentina. The avenue begins in the Carlos Pellegrini square and ends in front of the Torcuato de Alvear monument. This work by Juan Lauer, inaugurated in 1900, is composed of a Doric style marble column, crowned by a winged figure representing Glory. In the middle part, on the shaft, is the bust of the first mayor of Buenos Aires and, at the base, three bas-reliefs that represent the central events of his performance as a precursor to the urban development of the City.
A series of aristocratic residences are erected on Alvear avenue: the Pereda Palace (today the residence of the Brazilian Ambassador), the Ortiz Basualdo Palace (which houses the French Embassy), the Concepción Unzué de Casares mansion (the Jockey Club headquarters) , the Álzaga Unzué Palace (Four Seasons Hotel) and the Duhau residence (Park Hyatt Hotel). These buildings reflect the influence of French academicism and give the avenue a Parisian feel.
At the corner of Avenida Alvear and Ayacucho stands the sophisticated Alvear Palace Hotel, majestic for its architecture and decoration. It combines European elegance with the latest technology, providing impeccable personalized service. It is a true palace, an indisputable symbol of the Belle Époque, which after 10 years of construction was officially inaugurated in October 1932. In 2003 it was declared a Historical Monument of the City of Buenos Aires. In its almost 85 years of history, the Alvear hosted world-renowned emperors, kings, presidents and artists.
Palais de Glace
The Palais de Glace was built by J. L. Ruiz Basadre as an ice skating rink (1911-1921). It was inaugurated in 1910 and later enabled as a popular dance hall, until in 1931, it became an exhibition room for artistic works. The vaulted ceiling culminates in a magnificent glass dome and skylights designed to bring natural light to the skating rink. The ’20s were the glory of the Palais de Glace, Julio de Caro with his orchestra, who made up a sextet, interpreted his repertoire and showed off his harmonies thanks to perfect acoustics. Buenos Aires youth danced tango at the Palais de Glace. One night, leaving the milonga, Carlos Gardel receives a gunshot wound. According to some, for defending his friend Alippi in a brawl. The projectile stays in the left lung for the rest of its life.
Currently it is the institutional space par excellence of the National State for the exhibition of Argentine art and headquarters of the National Visual Arts Hall, the most important contest in the country that awards prizes in painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving, ceramics, textile art, photography and new supports and facilities. It has a heritage of around a thousand works.
Where to stay in Buenos Aires?
Our suggested hotel in Recoleta Buenos Aires is the Recoleta Grand hotel, a wonderful superior hotel located in this traditional neighborhood. For more information, click here!
