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| HISTORICAL WALKING BY BUENOS AIRES |
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| Historical Walking tour through Retiro, Recoleta, La Boca, San Telmo, Recoleta... |
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Buenos Aires
Reception and transfer from Ezeiza International Airport to Hotel in Buenos Aires.
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Historical Walking tour through Retiro and Recoleta: A walk around Paris & Historical Walking tour through the neighborhood of Palermo Chico: An aristocratic area
Breakfast at the Hotel. We begin this fascinating walk along the most elegant neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires. In order to do so we will have to travel back in time to the first decades of the 20th century, when the State and the aristocracy dreamt of turning this city in the Paris of Latin America and showed their wealth by constructing lavish and sumptuous palaces and buildings.
Since the beginning of the 19th century new ideas in architecture and design began to arrive at the country, in keeping with the political project of the moment that was trying to keep distance from the Spanish heritage and looked up to France as a role model.
Soon many French architects and engineers arrived at Buenos Aires, and were later in charge of the design and construction of bridges, roads, streets and public buildings that the city needed in order to reflect its power and its booming.
We begin our walk by visiting the splendid San Martín Square that was built in an inclined terrain, on a small hill next to the River Plate. This beautifully designed square abounds with the most antique tree samples of different species such as jacaranda, rosewood, magnolia and rubber plant. Around, there are a series of distinguished buildings and palaces built in the first decades of the past century.
The Paz Palace, today seat of the Military Circle, stands out in the west side. This spectacular palace was built by José C. Paz, the founder of La Prensa newspaper. He built it with the dream of becoming President and using it as the President's residence, but he did not see the dream come true: he died two years before it was finished.
In 1938 the Palace was bought by the Army and used from then on as a place for entertaining and strengthening the bonds within it. Opposite the Paz Palace we find the magnificent San Martín Palace, built between 1905 and 1909 by Alejandro Christophersen.
This palace belonged to the Anchorena family until 1936, when the government bought it in order to turn it into seat of the State Department. Inside it houses works of art from different Argentine and Latin American artists. We will also see the Plaza Hotel in the north side of the square, founded in 1909 by Ernesto Tornquist. The hotel stands out due to the elegance of its construction and its tradition and prestige as the great hotel of Buenos Aires. On the south side stands the amazing Kavannagh building, the tallest in South America at the moment of its construction. In the square we will see the Monument to the Fallen in Malvinas.
Last we head for Recoleta.
We will walk, first, along Alvear Avenue and the Pellegrini Square, where many embassies and fashion boutiques stand, until the Embassy of France, known as the Ortiz Basualdo Palace, an emblematic example of French aristocratic architecture. Later, we will visit the legendary Cemetery, that is characterized for its important tombs and mausoleums, in which lie the most important figures of Argentine history, literature and politics. We will be surprised on visiting Eva Peron's tomb, whose presence here is paradoxical as she was hated by the upper class and loved by all the workers.
The cemetery has six hectares of land and houses more that 6,400 tombs and mausoleums, many of which have been declared historical and cultural heritage. Next to the cemetery we find the church Our Lady of Pilar, the second oldest in Buenos Aires. This church is a treasure of colonial architecture and sacred art. We will then walk along Alvear Avenue, and the Pellegrini Square, where many embassies and fashion boutiques stand, until the Embassy of France, known as the Ortiz Basualdo Palace, an emblematic example of French aristocratic architecture.
Historical Walking tour through the neighborhood of Palermo Chico: An aristocratic area
We begin an exciting walk in the most elegant zones of Buenos Aires. In order to do so, we will have to go back in time until the first decades of the 20th century, when the Government and the upper classes dreamt of turning Buenos Aires into Latin America's Paris, and showed their wealth with the construction of elegant and lavish French palaces and buildings.
Our walk starts in Palermo's woods, where we will admire the leafy parks and lakes designed by famous French landscape artist Charles Thays due to the centenary of May Revolution. His original plan was to create a neighbourhood very different to the typical square layout we see in all the Capital.
He also used the local flora to decorate the beautiful parks that are full of yellow-flowered hardwood trees, jacarandas, rosewoods, and ceibos. We will also see Palermo's famous Rose Garden, inaugurated in 1875, a charming park that shows dozens of rose species.
A few steps away we will see the luxurious palaces where the upper classes lived in the first decades of the 20th century. We will visit the buildings of the Spanish and Portuguese Embassies.
We head towards Grand Bourg Square, a unique place in town. This square, also designed by Charles Thays, is surrounded by the most elegant residencies of Palermo Chico.
We take a few steps more and arrive to the National Museum of Decorative Arts that stands in the former mansion of the Erráruriz Alvear family.
This gorgeous palace in Neoclassical style was built in 1911 and houses the Museum's permanent collection, made up by furniture, sculptures, china, glasses, paintings and European and Eastern tapestry from the 14th to the 20th century. It also has a charming little restaurant and tea-room where the best French cuisine can be tasted.
Our final destination is the National Library and its surroundings, known as "The Island" because it only comprehends two or three blocks of elegant and exclusive buildings.
The National Library houses the most important bibliographic collection in Latin America. Created in 1810, its magnificent building shows a modern architectural style. It is made of three huge underground warehouses and an elevated body held by four strong columns. Both the project and its construction were in charge of famous architect Mario Roberto Álvarez. Among the famous directors of the Library we find Paul Groussac and Jorge Luis Borges.
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Historical Walking tour through Montserrat and San Telmo- Colonial Times & Historical Walking tour through The May Avenue: An axis of political power.
Breakfast at the Hotel. We begin a fascinating walk around Montserrat and San Telmo, where we will be able to discover an old Buenos Aires, that breathes in each block her rich past and her hidden stories, since the colonial times to the beginnings of the 20th century.
Our visit starts in the May Square, the location chosen by Juan de Garay to found Buenos Aires in 1580.
As time went by, the most important buildings concerning the political, religious and economic life were located here: first the Cabildo, a city hall, seat of the Spanish colonial government, and later the Pink House and the Metropolitan Cathedral. The first owes its name to the pink shade with which it is painted. From its mythical balcony spoke the most important figures of Argentine politics, like Eva Perón. In the center of the square we find May Pyramid, built in 1811.
The great Argentine artist Prilidiano Pueyrredón restored it in 1856, leaving the original pyramid inside. The figure in the apex represents Liberty, and was sculptured by Dobourdieu. The Metropolitan Cathedral, a true work of religious art, is richly decorated inside and houses General San Martín´s mausoleum, liberator of Argentina and other Latin American countries. We leave the Cathedral in order to walk along the streets of Montserrat, very close to the square.
There we will visit the "Manzana de las Luces", or Block of Enlightment, so called because it used to be the city's intellectual center. All the constructions located there are part of the city's historical and cultural heritage. We will also visit the Altos de Elorriaga, one of the few houses in a corner that doesn't have chamfer, and the first two-story building in the city.
We continue towards San Telmo, where the upper classes lived until 1871, when a terrible yellow fever epidemic compelled them to move north. Soon floods of immigrants began to arrive and rapidly moved into the abandoned buildings of colonial times and turned them into tenements.
Today San Telmo is a bohemian and intellectual district, which stands out because of its artistic and avant-garde spirit. In Plaza Dorrego, located in the heart of this neighbourhood, there is an important antique fair on Sundays. We will also find lots of antique shops and artist's ateliers where the works are on display. Also in San Telmo, we will visit the Santo Domingo's basilic, symbol of the local resistance during the English Invasions. Inside lie the mortal remains of Manuel Belgrano, an important patriot and intellectual, who created the National Flag.
We will also see the smallest house of Buenos Aires, called Casa Mínima, or Minimum House, because its facade is only 2, 5 metres wide. Lots of myths grew around it, for example, that it belonged to a freed slave.
Some of the tour's highlights: Cabildo - Metropolitan Cathedral - Pink House - Pyramid of May - Manzana de las Luces (Block of Enlightment) - Altos de Elorriaga - Basilica of Santo Domingo - Minimum House.
Historical Walking tour through The May Avenue: An axis of political power.
We begin this exciting walk along May Avenue that is the main axis of political power. In this elegant avenue we find many buildings of distinguished architecture, influenced by the European styles that reached this country in the first decades of the 20th century. It has been described as an avenue inspired in Paris, built by Italians, and inhabited by Spaniards. In order to discover its secrets, we will visit it and describe its layout and the most important buildings that stand there.
The May Avenue built in 1884, when Argentina shaped as one of the richest countries of the world and Buenos Aires was beginning to turn into a booming city. This avenue joins the May Square with the Congress, as a symbol of Republican power. Along its blocks solid Art Nouveau and Art Decó buildings were erected, as well as cafés, like the famous Tortoni, hotels, theatres and tearooms.
The avenue soon acquired its intellectual identity; along its sidewalks many important writers and artists used to stroll, like Borges and Arlt. The famous Spanish poet Federico García Lorca lived in one of its hotels, and many editorial offices of the main newspapers settled there in the first decades of the 20th century.
We will see first a French Academicist Petit Hotel built by architects Paquin and Dunant for Lady Ortiz Basualdo in 1895. We will pass by famous Café Tortoni, whose facade was designed by Christophersen in 1898.
We will also see the former Siemens building, from 1935, that is the first example of German Rationalism in Buenos Aires. In the next block we will see the Astoria Hotel, also by Christophersen, and the Gran Hotel España, of 1897. In the opposite block stand the Novel Hotel and the Alcázar Hotel.
We will observe the House of Culture, a French Academicist building that dates from 1896, former seat of La Prensa newspaper.
On top of the building there is a copper statue 55 meters high that holds a torch and a written page, symbols of freedom of speech.
In the last blocks the Castelar Hotel and the Barolo Palace stand out. The latter is the work of Italian architect Mario Palanti. It was inaugurated in 1923 and has a very particular style that mixes elements from the Italian, Gothic and the Romanic.
In the last stretch of the avenue we find a colossal building called "La Inmobiliaria", that houses offices and apartments built in 1910 by architect Broggi. This enormous building fuses Eclectic, Art Nouveau, Italian and Neoclassical styles.
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Buenos Aires
Breakfast at the Hotel. Free Day
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Historical Walking tour through Buenos Aire´s Churches: A testimony of the past & Historical Walking tour through La Boca - Little Italy
Breakfast at the Hotel. On this exciting tour, we will visit the most beautiful churches of Buenos Aires, built in the 17th and 18th century, when Buenos Aires was made up by only a few blocks. We will pay special attention to the influence the Catholic Church has had in the country's history and politics, as well as admire their architectural style and the rich artistic and cultural heritage each of them preserves.
We begin this walk at Saint Ignacio of Loyola church, located in the ancient block of enlightment. Its construction was in charge of a Jesuit architect, and is one of the oldest in town. It also shows a Bavarian Baroque style. The Buenos Aires University's opening ceremony was held there.
We continue, afterwards, towards the Basilica of Saint Francis, whose construction began in 1731. This temple belonged to the Franciscan Order, and shows elaborated facades, towers and decoration, all of them designed by Sackmann in 1911. Its architectural style shows elements from the Bavarian Baroque and the Neoclassical.
Proceeding with the walk, we stop at Saint Domingo's Basilica, emblem of the creoles' resistance to the English invasions. At its front, stands majestically Belgrano's mausoleum, patriot and intellectual of the highest standards, creator of the national flag.
Later, we visit the Metropolitan Cathedral that looks like a Greek temple because of its neoclassical style. Although it was built in the 18th century, its facade dates from the 19th century. Inside it has beautiful mosaic floors decorated with religious motifs and rich ornamentation.
It also houses General San Martin's mausoleum, Independence hero that stands outside the church's original layout because he was a Freemason.
We continue in Our Lady of Mercy, whose first stone was placed in 1721. This church was designed by Jesuit architects. During the English Invasions it was occupied by the local inhabitants to protect the city. From its atrium Santiago de Liniers directed the resistance.
Inside it has rich religious art works and its altar was designed with Rococo and Baroque elements.
Finally, we will visit the convent of Saint Catherine of Sienna, the city's first women monastery. It was built in 1727 with brick and lime, and today remains as one of the best examples of colonial architecture in Buenos Aires. Like other temples, Saint Catherine's was also occupied during the English Invasions in order to resist the attack the city suffered.
Some of the tour's highlights: Saint Francis - Saint Ignatius - Metropolitan Cathedral - Our Lady of Mercy - Saint Catherine of Sienna.
Historical Walking tour through La Boca - Little Italy
Our walk starts at the Avellaneda Bridge that joins the Capital with the southern outskirts. Before crossing it we find La Boca, which takes its name from being so close to the River's mouth. La Boca will surprise us with its authentic and original spirit. We will see colourful houses and tenements built by the immigrants that settled here at the end of the 19th century, attracted by the job opportunities the port offered.
These immigrants, mostly Italian, gave the neighbourhood its festive, joyful and hard-working atmosphere and left us a heritage of customs, architecture and art. We will visit an old tenement, a common home consisting of many rooms where different immigrant families lived crowded up. Due to the combination of languages and cultures lunfardo was born, which is the slang of porteños and of tango, whose presence here is undeniable. The famous street Caminito witnesses all this.
It takes its name from a tango song written by Juan de Dios Filiberto that took inspiration on this small passage decorated with lots of colours. But not only tango gives the place personality. Boca Junior's Football Stadium, also known as the Bombonera, reminds us of the other Argentine passion: football that began to be played in the abandoned fields near the port.
We finish our walk in Quinquela Martin's Museum, an artist that gave colour to the neighbourhood and printed in his works the life of the port-workers and the humble inhabitants of La Boca. Apart from being a prolific artist, Quinquela Martín was a great philanthropist, and contributed with innumerable donations to the cultural and social growth of the area.
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Historical Walking tour through Puerto Madero: A walk near the river
Breakfast at the Hotel. Since 1889 and for more than fifty years, Puerto Madero was used as Buenos Aires' natural first port of deep waters. This area was later abandoned until 1990, when the National Government remodelled the old warehouses and turned them into modern buildings that today house offices, restaurants, bars and homes. Nowadays Puerto Madero is the hippest, most modern neighbourhood in town, and it continues to grow.
We begin this walk in the old warehouses next to the River's promenade, where we will be able to enjoy the renewed zone and to observe the excellent job of urban recycling that was performed here. Next, we go to the Customs Office Building, the oldest institution in the country, established in 1778, long before Argentina was an independent nation. Its architectural style belongs to the École de Beaux Arts.
It is richly decorated with concrete which preserves the building from the decay of age.
We continue our walk through Libertador Building, whose construction was inspired by New York first skyscrapers. It was the tallest building in Latin America for many years. Today it is the seat of the Defense Department and command of the Army.
We stroll along the dikes again, where we will visit the Sarmiento Frigate that is anchored in Puerto Madero.
We will embark on her in order to visit the museum and see a true 19th century frigate. It holds an important photographic record that shows the voyages she has done, the prominent figures that travelled in it and many more important historical facts.
We disembark and go to La Nación Newspaper Building, a leading newspaper with one of the largest daily circulations in Argentina. It was founded by Bartolomé Mitre in 1870.
We will visit its modern building, a tower of 30 stories, designed symmetrically and covered in crystal, which allows the city to peep into its busy offices at night time.
Our last stop will be the Post Office Palace, also known as the Central Post Office, whose construction began in 1889. It was designed by Norbert Maillart. We will admire its lavish French Academicist style that makes it one of the most luxurious buildings in Buenos Aires.
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Buenos Aires
Breakfast at the Hotel. Transfer to Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires.
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