Olivos is a neighborhood in
Vicente López Partido
Vicente López is a partido in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is one of the country´s most affluent municipalities.
Vicente López is located 20 kilometers north of downtown Buenos Aires and 80 kilome ...
,
Buenos Aires Province,
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 bordered to the south by
Vicente López neighborhood and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
; to the east by the
River Plate; to the north by
La Lucila
La Lucila is a neighborhood in Vicente López Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The community is a suburb in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area.
It has a light railway station (La Lucila) on the Retiro- Tigre line - north on the line is M ...
and
Martínez, and to the west by
Munro
A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nev ...
.
Olivos is the
municipal seat
A municipal seat or ''cabecera municipal'' is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a municipality or civil parish with other villes or towns subordinated. The term is used in Brazil, Colombia,Vicente López Partido
Vicente López is a partido in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is one of the country´s most affluent municipalities.
Vicente López is located 20 kilometers north of downtown Buenos Aires and 80 kilome ...
, and it is also seat of the
Argentina presidencial residence.
History
A well-known stop along the Buenos Aires-
Córdoba trade route for much of the 18th century, one of the area's first landowners,
Domingo de Acassuso, began cultivating
olive tree
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
s around 1720 and the spot was officially named ''Olivos'' ("Olive Trees") on 19 February 1770. Much of the area was later purchased by Viceroy
Antonio de Olaguer y Feliú and by a
German immigrant, Hernán Wineberg, who sold a large tract in 1860 for the construction of the
Ferrocarril Central Argentino
The Central Argentine Railway, referred to as CA below, (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central Argentino) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, British companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company had been establish ...
through the area. The 1863 inaugural of the local
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
, one of Argentina's first, began attracting homeowners drawn by the area's tranquility and convenient access to the rapidly growing capital and, in 1897, the Church of Jesus of the Olive Trees was consecrated. A 1905 edict subdivided
San Isidro Partido
San Isidro is a partido of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina found in the north of Greater Buenos Aires. Its capital is the city of San Isidro. It is from the city of Buenos Aires.
The founder of San Isidro city was Domingo de Acassuso, who bui ...
in two, creating the modern Partido de Vicente López and designating Olivos as the seat.
Home to a growing upscale community by 1917, local businessman Rodolfo Negrete founded the city's first clinic and marina and, during the 1920s, the small marina was modernized and the city's streets paved. The opening of
National Route 9 in the mid-1930s, west of the city, further accentuated the area's draw as a convenient suburb for Buenos Aires commuters. The city became the focus of national attention in 1941 when, upon the passing of Carlos Villate Olaguer (a great-great-grandson of Viceroy Olaguer y Feliú's), a section of the family's local land was deeded to the national government for use as the president's official residence. Graced by a mansion of an eclectic,
Neo-Gothic
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 ...
-inspired style, the main house was commissioned by Miguel José de Azcuénaga in 1851 and designed by renowned local artist and architect
Prilidiano Pueyrredón
Prilidiano Pueyrredón (January 24, 1823 – November 3, 1870) was an Argentine painter, architect and engineer. One of the country's first prominent painters, he was known for his costumbrist sensibility and preference for everyday themes.
...
. The complementing structures for the compound were built in variations on
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...
.
The residence hosted the
Olivos Pact, a political agreement signed on 14 November 1993 between then-President
Carlos Menem and former President
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...
(head of the main opposition party, the centrist
Radical Civic Union). The pact secured support for
constitutional
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these prin ...
reforms allowing for the re-election of the President well as for the popular election of the
Mayor of Buenos Aires
, image = R larreta.jpg
, alt = Mayor of Buenos Aires
, incumbent = Horacio Rodríguez Larreta
, incumbentsince = 10 December 2015
, style = No courtesy, title or style
, residence = Buenos Aires ...
, hitherto an appointed post. The
Kheyvis nightclub fire of 20 December 1993 in Olivos was the deadliest such tragedy in Argentina up to that time. Olivos was selected as a stop along the
Tren de la Costa tourist railway upon the line's opening in 1994.
Geography
Olivos is located on the western bank of the
Rio de la Plata
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
, the world's widest river. The river is approximately wide at Olivos, and as such,
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
is not visible from ground level. However, Olivos (and this entire region of the Rio) do not have sandy beaches; the shoreline is relatively rocky. Comparable shorelines include those of the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...
in North America. The city's topography is relatively flat. However, there are some ridges by the river towards the north, in the ''La Lucila'' neighbourhood.
The city is located about north 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 ...
, of which it is effectively a suburb, and south of
Rosario.
Montevideo , capital of Uruguay is due east of Olivos, across the river.
Climate
Olivos has an
oceanic climate (Cfb). The city has comfortably warm summers but cool winters. Temperatures are noticeably more moderate than in places further inland, or even in nearby Buenos Aires, due to the lack of an urban heat island. Rainfall is fairly consistent throughout the year.
References
External links
*
Web site of Vicente López municipality, of which Olivos is part
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivos, Buenos Aires Province
Populated places in Buenos Aires Province
Vicente López Partido
Presidents of Argentina
Populated places established in 1770
Cities in Argentina
1770 establishments in the Spanish Empire