Recoleta Cemetery

The Recoleta Cemetery is the oldest and most aristocratic cemetery in the city. Its almost 6 hectares (14,000 acres) include the tombs and mausoleums of Independence patriots, presidents of the Republic, military people, scientists and artists. Among them, Eva Perón, Adolfo Bioy Casares and Facundo Quiroga. The crypts and mausoleums were the work, in many cases, of famous architects and are adorned with sculptures. More than 70 mausoleums were declared National Historic Monument. The cemetery is located on the land granted by Juan de Garay to Rodrigo Ortiz de Zárate, a member of the colonizing expedition. Later, the Frailes Recoletos convent was built there. In 1822, after the monks were expelled as a consequence of the General Reform of the Ecclesiastical Order, the orchard of the convent became a cemetery. Its layout was designed by the French engineer Próspero Catelin, and was remodeled during the government of the City Mayor Torcuato de Alvear, in 1881. This remodeling was made by the architect Juan Antonio Buschiazzo. The Italian sculptor Giulio Monteverde created the Christ that presides the chapel.

Junín 1760
Hours: Every day from 8 am to 6 pm.
Guided tours: Free, on the last Sunday of each month, at 2:30 pm.
Telephone: (54 11) 4803 1594
Bus lines: 5, 10, 17, 37, 38, 39, 41, 59, 60, 61, 62, 67, 75, 92, 93, 95, 101, 102, 106, 108, 110, 124, 130, 152

National Museum of Decorative Art


The architecture style of this building is one of the most beautiful in the city. The National Museum of Decorative Art houses around 4,000 works and organizes exhibitions, conferences, workshops, courses and guided tours.

Av. del Libertador 1902.
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, from 2 pm to 7 pm.
Admission: $8. On Tuesdays, free admission.
Telephone: (54 11) 4802 6606 // 4801 8248 // 4806 8306.
museo@mnad.org
www.mnad.org


Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA)


Technical Data:

Location: Avenida del Libertador 1473, Recoleta District.
Opening: 1896


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Plastic arts in Argentina were developed gradually during the 19th Century and showed great advancement toward the end of the century. The Argentine artists educated in Europe (specially in Italy, France, and Spain) who came back to the country started to exhibit their works and organize shows by other artists. In 1885 the first one-person show by a national artist was held in Buenos Aires, with 29 pieces by Cándido López. In 1888 two large French and Spanish paintings collections were exhibited. Three years later, the first Argentine multiple-artist show was held in a shop on Florida street. In 1893 the first national painting hall was established. No statue was made in Argentina until the creation of the “Falucho,” monument, by Correa Morales, in 1897, located in the intersection of Santa Fé Avenue and Luis María Campos Street.

The MNBA was inaugurated on July, 1896, and opened for the public on Christmas day the same year. The director was painter and art critic Eduardo Schiaffino, in a rental space in a building constructed for the French store Au Bon Marché (today “Galerías Pacífico,” in Córdoba Avenue and Florida Street.) The museum’s assets, made of donations and acquisitions by Schiaffino himself in Europe, had grown 20 times over in 1909. The MNBA moved to the “Pabellón Argentino,” an iron and glass building which represents the country at the “Exposición Universal de París” of 1889. Finally, in 1993, the current site was opened, in the old building of the “Casa de Bombas,” built in 1870. Architect Alejandro Bustillo was in charge of restoration, he designed spacious rooms, well illuminated, and simple. During the 60s and the 80s, several rooms and halls were added to the building.

The MNBA collection is the largest in the country and one of the most remarkable in Latin America. The most important international pieces in the museum include works by El Greco, Rodin, Goya, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, and Picasso, among others. Argentine artists include Cándido López, Spilimbergo, Pueyrredón, Fader, Quinquela Martín, Xul Solar, Berni, Alonso, de la Vega, Gorriarena, Seguí, and many more. The museum has a photography hall, a Pre-Columbian Andean art hall, two sculpture terraces, and a library holding over 150,000 items.

MNBA
Address: Av. del Libertador 1473, Recoleta District.
Tuesdays to Fridays: 12:30a.m.-7:30p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays: 9:30a.m.-7:30p.m.

Buses: 10, 17, 37, 41, 61, 62, 67, 92, 93, 110, 124, and 130.



1. National Library
Agüero 2502

The National Library was founded in 1811. It holds approximately 2,000,000 pieces, and the newspaper library is the most important in Latin America. Current building was projected by architect Clorindo Testa in association with Alicia Cazzaniga and Francisco Bullrich. From the original design until the inauguration in 1992, three decades went by. There are nine reading rooms with a total capacity for 940 readers and among other dependences, an auditory and a School of Librarians.

2. República Oriental del Uruguay Square
Surrounded by Libertador, Austria, Tagle and Figueroa Alcorta avenues

The center of República Oriental del Uruguay square seats the monument to General José Gervasio de Artigas. A work by sculptor José Luis Zorrilla de San Martin and architect Alejandro Bustillo.

3. Mitre Square
Libertador and Luis Agote

Behind the gorge, at Gelly y Obes round, you can see a series of exclusive residences of French architecture where the Great Britain Embassy stands out.
Bartolomé Mitre was an outstanding Argentine politician. He was born in 1821, and elected President of the Nation in 1862.

4. Francia Square
Surrounded by Libertador, Ricardo Levene, Dr. Luis Agote and Pueyrredón avenues

The central monument of this square was made by the French sculptor Edmond Peynot. Inaugurated in 1910, it has been the first monument donated by a foreign community to be erected in our country, on the Centennial of the Revolution of May.

5. National Museum of Fine Arts
Avenida del Libertador 1473

The most important in our country and one of the main in America. There are 32 rooms, where permanent patrimony is exposed, together with changing expositions. Its collections involve more than 10,000 art pieces.
We can see art pieces by Goya, El Greco, Tintoretto, Rembrandt, Degas, Van Gogh, Picasso, Kandinsky, Miró, Bourdelle, Rodín, Cándido López, Prilidiano Pueyrredón, etc.

6. School of Law
Av. Figueroa Alcorta 2263

The School of Law of Buenos Aires University was founded in 1821 by Antonio Sáenz. The building blends preliminary designs by architects Arturo Ochoa, Ismael Chiapore and Pedro Vivent. The purest Doric style can be clearly seen, since no other decoration but its monumental structure renders it as an absolute classic. It dates from 1949 and occupies a surface of 40,000 square meters.
The interior of the building is also venue for a museum, an art gallery and a library.

7. Torcuato de Alvear Square
Surrounded by Libertador, Pueyrredón, Alvear and Junín

One of the most important handicraft fairs in Buenos Aires rises there every weekend. Tourists may visit and enjoy the diverse proposals of street art. It is surrounded by historical buildings and a commercial center.

8. Monument to Gral. C. M. Alvear
Monument to General Carlos María de Alvear was made by sculptor Antonio Emilio Bourdelle, pupil and collaborator to the French Auguste Rodin. Bourdelle took almost ten years in having it finished. General Carlos María de Alvear was collaborator to General San Martín, president of the Assembly of Year 13 rd and Supreme Director for the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata in 1815.

9. Palais de Glace
Posadas 1725

From 1911 up to 1921, the first skating ice field was built in Buenos Aires. Then, it became an elegant tango ballroom. Today, it is a state center of art exhibitions.

10. Alvear Avenue and Alvear Hotel
The avenue was originally called Bella Vista, and designed upon request of the first Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires, Don Torcuato de Alvear , in homage to his father Carlos María de Alvear.
The hotel is one of the maximum expressions of hotels management in Buenos Aires City. The building was built in 1928. It holds 280 rooms and wide terraces from where you can see the river.

11. Recoleta Cultural Center
Junín 1930

Inaugurated in 1979, it seats in an old building of century 19th which belonged to monks Recoletos. Architects Santiago Bedle, Luis Benedit and Clorindo Testa reformulated certain sectors of the building. Today It holds 27 exhibition rooms where you can enjoy plastic art exhibitions, concerts, theatre, dance, performances, electro-acoustic music, video-graphic expressions, etc.

12. Nuestra Señora del Pilar Basílica
Junin 1892

Inaugurated in 1732, the work was directed by the Jesuit architect Andrés Blanqui. The altarpieces, great part of the images and other worshipping elements of the time monks Recoletos inhabited the convent have been maintained. Part of them may be seen at the small museum located next to the Church.

13. La Recoleta Cementery
Junín 1790

The orchard of the monks Recoletos became a public cemetery in 1822, after the expulsion of this religion order. In its almost six hectares, lie the rests of fathers of the country, independence heroes, presidents of the Republic, writers, scientists and artists.

14. Gastronomic Area
The astounding popularity gained by La Biela cafeteria, gave rise to many restaurants, cinemas, cafes and cafeterias which surround Recoleta Cemetery and which beautifully characterise this neighbourhood. This is one of the most crowded areas in the city, either at night and during the day.

15. La Biela Cafe
Intersection of Quintana and Roberto M. Ortiz avenues

La Biela, a cafe called this way from 1942 (former Aero Bar cafe), used to be the meeting place for car fans. La Biela was the drive to the development of many gastronomic business opposite to the cemetery.
In 1999, the Legislature of the City officially declared it “Place of Cultural Interest”. This café is located on Quintana avenue. It appears on the plans by Cristóbal Barrientos in 1772. It was called “the long street” since no other street intersected this avenue until Callao avenue.