Buenos Aires-Plaza de Mayo-Estatua Belgrano(2)

The Equestrian monument to General Manuel Belgrano is a landmark 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 ...

. It is located at

Plaza de Mayo The Plaza de Mayo (; en, May Square) is a city square and main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time know ...

, in front of the

Casa Rosada The ''Casa Rosada'' (, eng, Pink House) is the office of the president of Argentina. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the president lives at the Quinta de ...

. It depicts General

Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...

holding the

Flag of Argentina The national flag of the Argentine Republic is a triband (flag), triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors. The flag was created by ...

, and it is made of bronze over a pedestal of granite.

History

In 1870 generals

Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina. Mitre is known as the most versatile ...

, Enrique Martínez and Manuel José Guerrico appointed a commission with the task of making a monument for Manuel Belgrano. This was requested to the French sculptor

Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse (4 July 1848 – 14 June 1913) was a French painter and sculptor. He was son and pupil of Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, and the brother of painter Pierre Carrier-Belleuse. He designed the patterns of the '' ...

, who would make the statue of Belgrano, and Manuel de Santa Coloma, who designed the horse. It was finished in 1872 and moved to Buenos Aires, where it was dedicated on September 24, 1873, at an anniversary of the

Battle of Tucumán The Battle of Tucumán was a battle fought on 24 and 25 September 1812 near the Argentine city of San Miguel de Tucumán, during the Argentine War of Independence. The Army of the North, commanded by General Manuel Belgrano, defeated the roy ...

. More than 20,000 people were present at the ceremony, and the

Argentine National Anthem The "Argentine National Anthem" ( es, Himno Nacional Argentino) is the national anthem of Argentina. Its lyrics were written by the Buenos Aires-born politician Vicente López y Planes and the music was composed by the Spanish musician Blas Pa ...

was played at

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

that night. During the government of

Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear Máximo Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear Pacheco (4 October 1868 – 23 March 1942), was an Argentine lawyer and politician, who served as president of Argentina between from 1922 to 1928. His period of government coincided precisely with the en ...

it was thought that the base was too low, so it was raised. During the work the monument was rotated as well, and instead of watching towards to

Buenos Aires Cabildo The Cabildo of Buenos Aires ( es, Cabildo de Buenos Aires) is the public building in Buenos Aires that was used as seat of the town council during the colonial era and the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Today the bu ...

it was made to look to the North, so that it didn't show his back to the Casa Rosada.

Gallery

File:Buenos Aires-Plaza de Mayo-Estatua Belgrano.jpg, File:CABA - Monserrat - Homenaje al General Manuel Belgrano.jpg, File:Casa Rosada, frente.jpg, File:Equestrian monument to General Manuel Belgrano (5462668809).jpg, File:Estatua Equestre de Manuel Belgrano.jpg,

History

Gallery

See also