Caminito ("little walkway" or "little path" in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
) is a street museum and a traditional alley, located in
La Boca
La Boca (; "the Mouth", probably of the Matanza River) is a neighborhood (''barrio'') of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. It retains a strong Italian flavour, many of its early settlers having originated in the city of Genoa.
Geography
L ...
, a
neighborhood of
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
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. The place acquired cultural significance because it inspired the music for the famous tango "
Caminito" (1926), composed by
Juan de Dios Filiberto
Juan de Dios Filiberto (8 March 1885 11 November 1964) was an Argentine violinist, conductor, poet and composer who became prominent in the Argentine tango genre.
Life and work
He was born Óscar Juan de Dios Filiberti in 1885 to Josefa Roballo ...
.
History
![Buenos Aires - La Boca - Caminito - 200807i](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Buenos_Aires_-_La_Boca_-_Caminito_-_200807i.jpg)
During the 1800s, a small
stream flowing into the
Riachuelo River
The River
The Matanza River is known by several names, including, in Spanish, Río de la Matanza ("the slaughter river" in English), Río Matanza ("slaughter river"), Río Mataderos ("slaughterhouses river"), Río de la Manzana ("the apple rive ...
ran along the same route where the Caminito is now. Later that century, this area of the stream became known as the ''Puntin'', the Genoese diminutive term for bridge (a small bridge allowed people to cross the stream there). When the stream dried up, tracks for the
Ferrocarril Buenos Aires y Puerto de la Ensenada were installed at the site. Disused tracks remain at the end of Caminito, along Garibaldi Street.
In 1954, the railroad closed, and the area where Caminito was became a landfill and the neighborhood's eyesore. Over the following three years, Argentine artist
Benito Quinquela Martín
Benito Quinquela Martín (March 1, 1890 – January 28, 1977) was an Argentine painter. Quinquela Martín is considered the port painter-par-excellence and one of the most popular Argentine painters. His paintings of port scenes show the activ ...
who lived nearby, painstakingly prepared the walls facing the abandoned street, applying pastel colors, and by 1960 had a stage put up at the southern end; the wooden-plank stage was replaced with a nearby theatre house in 1972. The artist was a personal friend of
Argentine tango composer
Juan de Dios Filiberto
Juan de Dios Filiberto (8 March 1885 11 November 1964) was an Argentine violinist, conductor, poet and composer who became prominent in the Argentine tango genre.
Life and work
He was born Óscar Juan de Dios Filiberti in 1885 to Josefa Roballo ...
, who created a well-known 1926 tune by the same name.
File:Caminito-1939.jpg, The ''Caminito'' in its days as a railway lot, 1939
File:Caminito 1960.png, The ''Caminito'' in 1960, newly restored
File:Caminito Buenos Aires Argentina.jpg, The lyric ''Caminito'', immortalized in song by Juan de Dios Filiberto
Juan de Dios Filiberto (8 March 1885 11 November 1964) was an Argentine violinist, conductor, poet and composer who became prominent in the Argentine tango genre.
Life and work
He was born Óscar Juan de Dios Filiberti in 1885 to Josefa Roballo ...
File:Caminito Farolito.jpg, Pastel hues in ''Caminito''
File:Caminito Havanna Buenos Aires.jpg, Sign at the Havanna store in ''Caminito''
External links
Caminito Street in La Boca neighbourhood
{{coord, 34.6393, S, 58.3628, W, format=dms, source:kolossus-ptwiki, display=title
Streets in Buenos Aires
Pedestrian streets in Argentina