![Avenida Libertador Mapa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Avenida_Libertador_Mapa.jpg)
Avenida del Libertador is one of the principal thoroughfares in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, Argentina, and in points north, extending from the
Retiro District of Buenos Aires (where it continues as
Avenida Leandro N. Alem
Avenida Leandro N. Alem is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a commercial nerve center of the city's San Nicolás and Retiro districts. It joins Avenida del Libertador and Avenida Paseo Colón, its northern and ...
) to the northern suburb of
San Fernando
San Fernando may refer to:
People
*Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia
Places Argentina
*San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...
.
History
Inspired by Parisian urbanist
Baron Haussmann
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...
's renowned modernization of the City of Lights, Mayor
Torcuato de Alvear
Torcuato de Alvear y Saenz de la Quintanilla ( Montevideo, 1822 – Buenos Aires, 1890) was a 19th-century Argentine conservative politician. He was the son of soldier and statesman Carlos María de Alvear and father of Marcelo Torcuato de Alvea ...
took office with a similar mandate in 1880. Inheriting a rapidly growing city hamstrung by a typically colonial grid of narrow streets, his most ambitious project would be a boulevard connecting the
Retiro section (north of downtown) to the growing neighborhoods of
Recoleta and
Palermo to the northeast (at the time merely suburbs). Bella Vista Street was widened and lengthened, reaching northwest into Palermo and, upon its inaugural in 1885, was renamed in honor the Mayor's father,
Carlos María de Alvear
Carlos María de Alvear (October 25, 1789 in Santo Ángel, Rio Grande do Sul – November 3, 1852 in New York), was an Argentine soldier and statesman, Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1815.
Early life
H ...
(one of Argentina's
early leaders).
![Av libertador alumbrado publico](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Av_libertador_alumbrado_publico.jpg)
Soon becoming among the most coveted addresses in Buenos Aires,
Avenida Alvear was graced by numerous mansions (a few of which survive), though it quickly also became among the most transited in the fast-growing Buenos Aires of the late 19th century. Planned with a future
railway terminal
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...
in Retiro in mind, Mayor
Adolfo Bullrich had a multilane boulevard developed between Retiro and Palermo, roughly parallel to the
Mitre rail line and east of Alvear Avenue, giving Palermo commuters easy access to the station and freeing Alvear of its heavy traffic.
Opened in 1906, Avenida
Viceroy Vértiz was renamed ''Avenida del Libertador'' in 1950 in honor of the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Perú, General
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...
, by order of President
Juan Perón and to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of San Martín's passing. A thoroughfare (Route 195) connecting Buenos Aires to San Fernando was built in the late 1930s and was likewise renamed in 1950. The subsequent automobile boom and the growth of northside neighborhoods and suburbs led Mayor
Manuel Iricíbar in 1968 to order the extension of the avenue northwards into the
Belgrano and
Núñez neighborhoods.
The extension was facilitated by a tunnel and by the widening of Blandengues Street, which became part of Avenida del Libertador. Thus connected to the avenue of the same name north of Buenos Aires, Libertador's entry into the suburb of
Vicente López via a
roundabout was replaced by a freeway underpass and its boulevard medians, removed. Severe rush hour traffic congestion along the avenue was alleviated by the 1996 opening of the
Arturo Illia
Arturo Umberto Illia (; 4 August 1900 – 18 January 1983) was an Argentine politician and physician, who was President of Argentina from 12 October 1963, to 28 June 1966. He was a member of the centrist Radical Civic Union.
Illia reached t ...
Freeway, running parallel to the avenue and providing a (
toll road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...
) alternative to the busy junction at Libertador and
Avenida 9 de Julio.
Itinerary
Avenida Leandro Alem at its northern end becomes Libertador Avenue at the southeast corner of
San Martín Plaza. Continuing northwards along the
Retiro district, it passes by the important
Retiro railway terminal and in parallel to the
Mitre rail line. Past the Railway Museum, it travels under the Illia Freeway overpass and through the intersection with the massive Ninth of July Avenue. Entering the
Recoleta district, the avenue affords a view of Alvear Plaza and the
Recoleta Cultural Center before a fork leads to
Figueroa Alcorta Avenue
Avenida Figueroa Alcorta is a major thoroughfare in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a length of over along the city's northside.
History
The rapid northward growth of the city of Buenos Aires during the late nineteenth century was facilitated by ...
, a parallel thoroughfare opened in 1910. The
National Museum of Fine Arts is located at this junction. Its
Palermo district stretch takes the avenue past the
Argentine Automobile Club
The Argentine Automobile Club ( es, Automóvil Club Argentino, ACA) is Argentina's largest automobile association.
It was founded on June 11, 1904, by Dalmiro Varela Castex, who in 1892 had imported the country's first registered automobile, a D ...
, the
National Museum of Decorative Arts
The National Museum of Decorative Arts is an art museum in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
History
The museum has its origins in a marriage in 1897 between two prominent members of turn-of-the-century Argentine high society: Matías Errazúri ...
, the
Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens
The Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens ( es, Jardín Japonés de Buenos Aires; ja, ブエノスアイレス日本庭園) are a public space administered by the non-profit Japanese Argentine Cultural Foundation in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They are amo ...
,
Tres de Febrero Park, and the
Palermo Hippodrome. Its route along both these neighborhoods is surrounded by some of the most valuable residential real estate in Buenos Aires.
A tunnel opened in 1971 takes the avenue past the Municipal Golf Course and into the
Belgrano district. In
Núñez, it passes by the infamous
Navy Mechanics School, which housed the most important of the 340 detention centers operated by Argentina's
last dictatorship in the late 1970s. The ESMA is today the National Museum of Remembrance. An underpass then leads into the northern suburb of
Vicente López, beginning the avenue's 15 km (9 mi) stretch in
Buenos Aires Province. The scenery of high rises and shopping areas there and in neighboring
Olivos gradually blends into leafy
San Isidro, passing by the
Neogothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
Cathedral of San Isidro. A detour via Primera Junta Avenue continues the interrupted thoroughfare into
San Fernando
San Fernando may refer to:
People
*Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia
Places Argentina
*San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...
until its city limit with the
Paraná Delta
The Paraná Delta ( es, Delta del Paraná) is the delta of the Paraná River in Argentina and it consists of several islands known as the Islas del Paraná. The Paraná flows north–south and becomes an alluvial basin (a flood plain) between t ...
city of
Tigre, where it ends past a bridge over one of the area's numerous canals.
File:Torre Claro, Buenos Aires.jpg, Prourban tower
File:Patio Bullrich Mall.jpg, Patio Bullrich
Patio Bullrich is a shopping center located in the Retiro neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The building was originally an auction house owned by the Bullrich family, where cattle and pieces of art were auctioned.
File:Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Buenos Aires, 2014).JPG, National Museum of Fine Arts
File:National Library of the Argentine Republic, 2016.jpg, National Library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
File:ACA - Sede Central.jpg, Argentine Automobile Club building
File:Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo.jpg, National Museum of Decorative Arts
The National Museum of Decorative Arts is an art museum in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
History
The museum has its origins in a marriage in 1897 between two prominent members of turn-of-the-century Argentine high society: Matías Errazúri ...
File:Monumento_de_los_Españoles_II.JPG, Monument to the Carta Magna
File:Embajada_de_EEUU,_Palacio_Bosch.jpg, Bosch Palace
The Bosch Palace is an architecturally significant residence in the Palermo section of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Overview
The French Neoclassical mansion was commissioned by Elisa and Ernesto Bosch in 1910. Bosch had returned to Argentina foll ...
File:Hipódromo Argentino.jpg, Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo
The Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo is a horse racing course located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and one of the most important in the country, hosting 120 days of racing and 1,400 races every year. Races are hosted three days a week, with about ni ...
File:ESMA 2.JPG, ESMA
File:CNEA.JPG, National Atomic Energy Commission
The National Atomic Energy Commission ( es, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, CNEA) is the Argentine government agency in charge of nuclear energy research and development.
The agency was created on May 31, 1950, with the mission of dev ...
External links
El túnel del tiempo Vialidad Nacional
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Libertador