Retiro is a ''
barrio
''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...
'' or neighborhood 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 ...
. Located in the northeast end of the city, Retiro is bordered on the south by the
Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land ...
and
San Nicolás, and on the west by the
Recoleta.
History
Towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th was installed in the area, an
asiento
The () was a monopoly contract between the Spanish Crown and various merchants for the right to provide African slaves to colonies in the Spanish Americas. The Spanish Empire rarely engaged in the trans-Atlantic slave trade directly from Afri ...
of slaves belonging to the
Compagnie de Guinée and
South Sea Company
The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
, that operated until 1739.
In 1800 began the construction of
Plaza de Toros del Retiro
Plaza de Toros del Retiro was a bullfighting coliseum of Buenos Aires of the 19th century. This Arena was established in the city during the last years of the colonial period.
History
The Plaza de Toros del Retiro was made by the architect F ...
, a stadium of bullfighting built by the architect Francisco Cañete, that worked until 1819. In the Plaza de Toros took place the battles between the troops of
Santiago de Liniers
Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, Order of Montesa, KOM, Order of Malta, OM (July 25, 1753 – August 26, 1810) was a French People, French officer in the Spain, Spanish military service, and a viceroy of ...
and the
British army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, occurred during the
English invasions of 1806 and 1807.
In 1821 was installed the first dissident cemetery of Buenos Aires, located in the vicinity of
Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Socorro. This cemetery was place were buried the people who professed the Protestant religion, mostly English. The dissident cemetery operated in the neighborhood of Retiro until 1833, and was transferred that same year to the neighborhood of
Balvanera
Balvanera is a barrio or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Origin of name and alternative names
The official name, Balvanera, is the name of the ''parroquia'' (parish) centered around the church of ''Nuestra Señora de Balvanera'', erected ...
.
In 1854, was established in the neighborhood the
Compañía Primitiva de Gas de Buenos Aires Ltda.
Compañía Primitiva de Gas de Buenos Aires Ltda. was a gas and electricity company of United Kingdom, British origin, who operated in the city of Buenos Aires between 1854 and 1945.
History
The company was founded in 1854 in Buenos Aires, and ...
, a British gas company, that worked until it was nationalized in 1944.
In 1910 the British residents of Buenos Aires financed the construction of the
Torre de los Ingleses
Torre Monumental (Spanish for "Monumental Tower"), formerly known as Torre de los Ingleses ("Tower of the English"), is a clock tower located in the ''barrio'' (district) of Retiro in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is situated in the Plaza Fuerza A ...
(renamed in 1982 to ''Torre Monumental''), on the occasion of the centenary of the
May Revolution
The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...
. The work was entrusted to the English architect
Ambrose Macdonald Poynter
Sir Ambrose Macdonald Poynter (26 September 1867 – 31 May 1923) was a British calligrapher, artist and architect.
Poynter was born at 24 Gower Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was eldest son of Sir Edward John Poynter (1836–1919), and gr ...
, being inaugurated by the president
Victorino de la Plaza
Victorino de la Plaza y Palacios (2 November 1840 – 2 October 1919) was an Argentine politician and lawyer who served as President of Argentina from 9 August 1914 to 11 October 1916.
As the second son of José Roque Mariano de la Plaza E ...
on May 24, 1916 .
Urban character
![Buenos Aires (39693524381)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Buenos_Aires_%2839693524381%29.jpg)
Retiro is one of the largest hubs of transportation services in Argentina, and is home to many high-end stores and residential areas popular among both local wealthy gentry and expatriate executives. About 26,000 of its people, however, including thousands of
illegal immigrants, live in the "
Villa 31
A ''villa miseria'' (), or just ''villa'', is the informal term for a type of shanty town slum found in Argentina, mostly around the largest urban settlements.
Name
The term is a noun phrase made up of the Spanish words ''villa'' (''village'', ' ...
" shantytown built along the
Port of Buenos Aires
The Port of Buenos Aires ( es, Puerto de Buenos Aires) is the principal maritime port in Argentina. Operated by the ''Administración General de Puertos'' (General Ports Administration), a state enterprise, it is the leading transshipment point fo ...
from the 1930s onwards. Local and long distance rail service heading to the north originate from
Estación Retiro
Retiro is the name of a railway station complex in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that includes three main terminal train stations ( Retiro-Mitre, Retiro-Belgrano and Retiro-San Martín) and two terminal subway stations ( Retiro of Line C and Reti ...
(''Retiro train terminal''), also a major long-distance
bus terminal
A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is l ...
(''Terminal de Ómnibus'') is located adjacent to the station,
''subte'' line C of the
Buenos Aires Metro
The Buenos Aires Underground ( es, Subterráneo de Buenos Aires, links=no), locally known as Subte (), is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first section of this network (Plaza de Mayo–Plaz ...
system and numerous local public bus services, this area is always teeming with commuters and traffic on weekdays.
A major thoroughfare is
Avenida del Libertador, which becomes
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 ...
past the Retiro train terminal. Avenida Leandro Alem runs north-to-south along the
Buenos Aires Central Business District, which Retiro shares with the San Nicolás ward; the Retiro section of the business district is centered on the
Catalinas Norte
Catalinas Norte is an important business complex composed of nineteen commercial office buildings and occupied by many leading Argentine companies, foreign subsidiaries, diplomatic offices, and a hotel. It is located in the Retiro and San Nicol ...
office park, initially built in the 1970s over docklands developed a century earlier by
Francisco Seeber
Francisco Seeber (November 15, 1841 – December 13, 1913) was an Argentine military officer, businessman and Mayor of Buenos Aires.
Life and times
Francisco Seeber was born in Buenos Aires to Sophia Taut and Magnus Seeber, both German Argent ...
. Other principal streets and avenues in Retiro are
Santa Fe,
Córdoba, and Libertador Avenues, pedestrian
Calle Florida
Florida Street ( es, Calle Florida) is a popular shopping street in Downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. A pedestrian street since 1971, some stretches have been pedestrianized since 1913.
The pedestrian section as such starts at the intersection ...
, and
Avenida 9 de Julio
July 9 Avenue (Spanish: ''Avenida 9 de Julio'') is a major thoroughfare in the city centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its name honors Argentina's Independence Day, July 9, 1816.
The avenue runs around to the west of the Río de la Plata water ...
.
[
The Retiro section of Calle Florida was the site of ]Harrods Buenos Aires
Harrods Buenos Aires is a historic commercial building of a department store in Buenos Aires, Argentina located at the corner of Córdoba Avenue and San Martin. It was a branch of Harrods of London founded in 1913 by the proprietors of the London ...
, originally the London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
department store's only overseas affiliate, from 1914 to 1998; the abandoned landmark continued to host art shows and Tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
festivals, and permits were obtained in 2009 to reopen the retailer. Another Retiro landmark spared demolition was the Ortiz Basualdo Palace
Ortiz () is a Spanish-language patronymic surname meaning "son of Orti". "Orti" seems to be disputed in meaning, deriving from either Basque, Latin ''fortis'' meaning "brave, strong", or Latin ''fortunius'' meaning "fortunate". Officials of the S ...
. Completed in 1912 as a private residence, it was acquired by the French Government
The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...
for use as its Embassy in Argentina in 1939. When entire blocks of housing were razed to make way for an extension of the Avenida 9 de Julio in the late 1970s, the embassy was spared due to its landmark status, and remains the lone building in the midst of intense traffic. The neighboring Pereda Palace
The Pereda Palace is an old manor located in front of the Plazoleta Carlos Pellegrini, at the beginning of Avenida Alvear, in Buenos Aires, at number 1130 Arroyo St. It was built by the doctor and large farmer (122.000 hectares) Celedonio Tomá ...
, built in 1920, serves as the official residence of the Ambassador of Brazil.
Retiro is home to a number of five star hotel
Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality. From the initial purpose of informing travellers on basic facilities that can be expected, the objectives of hotel rating have expanded into a focus on the hotel experie ...
s, including the Four Seasons, Marriott Plaza, Sheraton, and Sofitel
Sofitel Hotels & Resorts are a French hotel chain of luxury hotels based in Paris, France, and owned by Accor since 1980.
Founded in 1964 in France, Sofitel quickly developed worldwide to reach more than 200 properties. In 2008, Sofitel became a ...
. The oldest of these, the Marriott Plaza, was opened in 1909 and faces Plaza San Martín, to the north of which lies the train terminal and the Plaza Fuerza Aérea Argentina
Plaza Fuerza Aérea Argentina (Spanish language, Spanish for "Argentine Air Force Square") is a square located in the Barrios and Communes of Buenos Aires, ''barrio'' (district) of Retiro, Buenos Aires, Retiro in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The sq ...
(formerly ''Plaza Británica''), where the Torre Monumental (formerly ''Torre de los Ingleses'') is located; the palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
monument was donated by the Anglo-Argentine
English Argentines (also known as Anglo-Argentines) are citizens of Argentina or the children of Argentine citizens brought up in Argentina, who can claim ancestry originating in England. The English settlement in Argentina (the arrival of Eng ...
community for the 1910 centennial celebrations, and suffered several acts of sabotage in the wake of the 1982 Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
. Also nearby are the Basílica Santísimo Sacramento, the upscale 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. shopping arcade, the Estrugamou Building
The Estrugamou Building is an architecturally significant residential building in the Retiro area of Buenos Aires.
Overview
The landmark building was commissioned in 1924 by Alejandro Estrugamou, the son of immigrants from the Basses-Pyrénées ...
, the Fernández Blanco Museum, and the Peace Plaza - the site of the former Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i Embassy, which was bombed on March 17, 1992, with a toll of 29 dead and 242 wounded, marking the first known South American incident of Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
-related terrorism.[
The numerous government agencies headquartered in the district include the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the ]Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
, the Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
, the National Mint, and the Rail Transport Agency; the former Hotel de Inmigrantes
Hotel de Inmigrantes (Immigrants' Hotel) is a complex of buildings, often compared to a citadel, constructed between 1905 and 1911 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to receive immigrants and stem the tide of communicable diseases following mass cholera ...
, the primary point of entry for millions of immigrants
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
from 1911 to 1953, is also in Retiro and today serves as a national museum.
Plaza San Martín
Across the street opposite Retiro train terminal is the leafy Plaza San Martín, surrounded by great palaces and hotels. The Retiro lowlands were once the training grounds for 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 ...
's Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers
The Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers ( es, Regimiento de Granaderos a Caballo) is the name of two Argentine Army regiments of two different time periods: a historic regiment that operated from 1812 to 1826, and a modern cavalry unit that was organiz ...
, and the modern-day Plaza San Martín features an equestrian monument to the hero 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 ...
, as well as a memorial to the dead in the Falklands War.[
The most significant landmark opposite the plaza is the ]Kavanagh building
The Kavanagh Building () is a famed skyscraper in Retiro, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Designed in 1934 by architects Gregorio Sánchez, Ernesto Lagos and Luis María de la Torre, it is considered a pinnacle of modernist architecture. At the time of ...
, a reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...
structure finished in 1936 that, at the time, was the tallest building in Latin America at . Funded by an Irish Argentine
Irish Argentines are Argentine citizens who are fully or partially of Irish descent. Irish emigrants from the Midlands, Wexford and many counties of Ireland arrived in Argentina mainly from 1830 to 1930, with the largest wave taking place in 1 ...
woman, the Kavanagh stands on the northern end of pedestrian Calle Florida
Florida Street ( es, Calle Florida) is a popular shopping street in Downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. A pedestrian street since 1971, some stretches have been pedestrianized since 1913.
The pedestrian section as such starts at the intersection ...
, and its construction followed the plaza's extensive redesign, which resulted in the demolition of a number of derelict buildings from the colonial era, though also of the original National Museum of Fine Arts, an ornate pavilion used for the 1889 Paris Exposition. Other architecturally significant landmarks facing the plaza include the Paz Palace
The Paz Palace is a former mansion in Buenos Aires, Argentina, housing the Military Officers' Association, a social club maintained by the Argentine military.
Overview
One of Buenos Aires' most traditional social clubs, the Military Officers' As ...
, the San Martín Palace
San Martín Palace (''Palacio San Martín'') is located facing Plaza San Martín in the Retiro neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina and serves as the Ceremonial Headquarters for the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
History
The Beaux Arts ...
, and the Olivetti and Pirelli skyscrapers, which were among the first in the city built in the International Style.
File:Retiro room view.jpg,
File:Buenos Aires - Plaza Libertad 067.jpg,
File:Buenos_Aires_-_Florida_y_C%C3%B3rdoba.jpg,
File:Palacio San Martín.jpg,
File:9 de Julio (Retiro).jpg, Avenida 9 de Julio
July 9 Avenue (Spanish: ''Avenida 9 de Julio'') is a major thoroughfare in the city centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its name honors Argentina's Independence Day, July 9, 1816.
The avenue runs around to the west of the Río de la Plata water ...
File:Leandro Alem Buenos Aires 37.jpg,
File:Santa Fe Avenue past Plaza San Martin.jpg,
References
External links
Unofficial Retiro guide with pictures and sightseeings
{{Coord, 34, 35, 41, S, 58, 22, 33, W, region:AR-C_type:city(45000), display=title
Neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires