The General San Martín Cultural Centre ( es, Centro Cultural General San Martín) is a cultural centre located 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 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 ...

near the major thoroughfare

Corrientes Avenue Avenida Corrientes () is one of the principal thoroughfares of the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. The street is intimately tied to the tango and the porteño sense of identity. Like the parallel avenues Santa Fe, Córdoba, and San Juan, it t ...

. It is run by the city government, and hosts diverse cultural and artistic events. Adjacent to the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

of the same name inaugurated in 1960 on

, the cultural center was designed by local architect

Mario Roberto Álvarez Mario Roberto Álvarez (November 14, 1913 – November 5, 2011)
was an Ar ...

, and was built between 1962 and 1970. The center hosted the National Commission on the Disappeared (CONADEP) in 1984, as well as the first session of the

Buenos Aires City Legislature The Buenos Aires City Legislature ( es, Legislatura de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, links=no, commonly known as the ) is a central part of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is housed in the Legislature Palace ( es ...

following the devolution of autonomy to the city in 1996, and an extensive renovation began in 2007. Its annual theatre audiences of nearly 350,000 make it the largest public cultural center nationally, and with similar numbers at the privately operated

Paseo La Plaza Paseo La Plaza is a cultural and commercial complex in the San Nicolás section of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Overview Paseo La Plaza was built where the bustling ''Mercado Modelo'' once stood. Serving residents in or near the 1600 block of Corrie ...

one block west, the 1500 block of Corrientes Avenue is arguably the leading center for the theatre in Latin America.City of Buenos Aires: San Martín Cultural Center
/ref> The cultural centre is named after 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 cent ...

, leader of the

Argentine War of Independence The Argentine War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Argentina, links=no) was a secessionist civil war fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín a ...

The building is spread over 12 floors and has different rooms for workshops and courses, including the Buenos Aires Audiovisual Nucleus with over 7,000 documentary works. The principal halls are: *''Sala Ernesto Bianco'' - 70 persons, dances *''Sala Enrique Muino'' - 254 persons, scenic arts *''Sala A/B'' - 750 persons *''Sala C'' - 200 persons *''Sala D'' - 200 persons *''Sala E'' - 200 persons *''Sala F'' - 200 persons *''Salón Madres de Plaza de Mayo'', 150 persons, for use of

Madres de Plaza de Mayo The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is an Argentine human rights association formed in response to the National Reorganization Process, the military dictatorship by Jorge Rafael Videla, with the goal of finding the '' desaparecidos'', initially, a ...

, and others. At the eastern end of the building there are two small parks– the ''Plaza de las Américas'' and the ''Patio de Esculturas''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Centro Cultural General San Martin Art museums and galleries in Argentina Theatres in Buenos Aires Culture in Buenos Aires Buildings and structures in Buenos Aires Tourist attractions in Buenos Aires Buildings and structures completed in 1970