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San Telmo ("Saint Pedro González Telmo") is the oldest ''
barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish word that means " quarter" or " neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), social, 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 Am ...
,
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 a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and
antique shop An antique shop (or antiques shop) is a retail store specializing in the selling of antiques. Antiques shops can be located either locally or, with the advent of the Internet, found online. An antiques shop can also be located within an anti ...
s line the
cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct f ...
streets, which are often filled with artists and dancers. A street named the "Illuminated Block" is where many of these important historical buildings can be found. San Telmo's attractions include old churches (e.g. San Pedro Telmo), museums, food halls and stalls, antique stores and a semi-permanent antique fair ('' Feria de Antigüedades'') in the main public square, Plaza Dorrego. Tango-related activities for both locals and tourists are in the area.


History

Known as San Pedro Heights during the 17th century, the area was mostly home to the city's growing contingent of dockworkers and brickmakers; the area became Buenos Aires' first "industrial" area, home to its first windmill and most of the early city's brick kilns and warehouses. The bulk of the city's exports of wool, hides and leather (the Argentine region's chief source of income as late as the 1870s) were prepared and stored here in colonial times. Their presence led to the first residential settlements in this area: that of Africans, slaves and free, alike. Previously separated from Buenos Aires proper by a ravine, the area was formally incorporated into the city in 1708 as the "Ovens and Storehouses of San Pedro." The neighborhood's poverty led the Jesuits to found a "Spiritual House" in the area, a charitable and educational mission referred to by San Pedro's indigent as "the Residence;" their 1767 suppression led to the mission's closure, however. The void left by the Jesuits' departure was addressed by the 1806 establishment of the Parish of San Pedro González Telmo (or "San Telmo"), so named in honor of the Patron Saint of seafarers. This move failed to replace the lost social institutions, however, and San Telmo languished well after Argentine independence in 1816. The Jesuit Residence, restored as a clinic by Guatemalan friars, was shuttered in 1821, and San Telmo saw no public works for the next 30 years except a Black Infantrymen's Quarters and the construction of the dreaded Mazorca Dungeon by Governor
Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Although ...
. San Telmo began to improve despite these challenges, particularly after Rosas' removal from power in 1852. The establishment of new clinics, the installation of gas mains, lighting, sewers, running water and
cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct f ...
s and the opening of the city's main
wholesale market Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
led to increasing interest in the area on the part of the well-to-do and numerous imposing homes were built in the western half of San Telmo. This promising era ended abruptly when an epidemic of yellow fever struck the area in 1871. The new clinics and the heroic efforts of physicians like Florentino Ameghino helped curb the northward spread of the epidemic; but as time went on it claimed over 10,000 lives, and this led to the exodus of San Telmo's growing middle and upper classes into what later became Barrio Norte. At first hundreds of properties became vacant. A few of the larger lots were converted into needed parks, the largest of which is
Lezama Park Lezama Park is a public park in the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Overview Historians believe the park's eastern barranca to have been the site of Spanish Conquistador Pedro de Mendoza's landing on what became the first, fai ...
, designed by the renowned French-Argentine urban planner Charles Thays in 1891 as a complement to the new Argentine National Museum of History. Most large homes, though, became tenement housing during the wave of immigration into Argentina from Europe between 1875 and 1930. San Telmo became the most multicultural neighborhood in Buenos Aires, home to large communities of
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
, Galician,
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and
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
-Argentines. The large numbers of Russians in San Telmo and elsewhere in Buenos Aires led to the consecration of Argentina's first Russian Orthodox Church in 1901. Expanding industry to the south also led a German immigrant, Otto Krause, to open a technical school here in 1897. San Telmo's bohemian air began attracting local artists after upwardly-mobile immigrants left the area. Increasing cultural activity resulted in the opening of the
Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art The Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art known locally as the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires or MAMBA is a modern art museum located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. History The museum opened on April 11, 1956, and resulted from an initiative by ...
by critic
Rafael Squirru Rafael Fernando Squirru (March 23, 1925 – March 5, 2016) was an Argentine poet, lecturer, art critic and essayist. Biographical notes Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Squirru was educated at Saint Andrew's Scot School and at the Jesuit El ...
in 1956, as well as in the 1960 advent of the "Republic of San Telmo," an artisan guild which organized art walks and other events. San Telmo's immigrant presence also led to quick popularization of tango in the area: long after that genre's heyday, renowned vocalist
Edmundo Rivero Leonel Edmundo Rivero (June 8, 1911 – January 18, 1986) was an Argentine tango singer, composer, and impresario. Biography Early days Rivero was born in the southern Buenos Aires suburb of Valentín Alsina. Joining his father in some of his ...
purchased an abandoned colonial-era grocery in 1969, christening it ''El Viejo Almacén'' ("The Old Grocery Store"). This soon became one of the city's best-known tango music halls, helping lead to a cultural and economic revival in San Telmo. The 1980 restoration of the former Ezeiza family mansion into the ''Pasaje de la Defensa'' ("Defensa Street Promenade"), moreover, has led to the refurbishment of numerous such structures, many of which had been ''conventillos'' (tenements) since the 1870s. As most of San Telmo's 19th century architecture and cobblestone streets remain, it has also become an important tourist attraction.


Contemporary art

A great number of contemporary art galleries, art spaces and museums are located in this area. In 2005 the gallery and
artist-run space An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...
''
Appetite Appetite is the desire to eat food items, usually due to hunger. Appealing foods can stimulate appetite even when hunger is absent, although appetite can be greatly reduced by satiety. Appetite exists in all higher life-forms, and serves to regul ...
'' opened and the Argentine public and media immediately noticed the crowds attending its openings and parties. Other art galleries began setting up in this neighborhood and it became a Mecca of contemporary art. The first to talk about it was '' Rolling Stone'' magazine which said in late 2006: "When all the movement seemed to be getting installed at Palermo, the Daniela Luna tornado opened the appetite with an art gallery in San Telmo and little by little is monopolizing the neighborhood and transferring the scene." A few months later the '' New York Times'' said that "To find Appetite, an avant-garde gallery that everyone I met recommended, I had to return to one of San Telmo's less atmospheric blocks." Many media remarked the transformation of San Telmo into a destination for contemporary art lovers, such as the newspaper ''
La Nacion LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'' which counted around 30 galleries and art centers in 2008. Later that year, the same newspaper published another article that started: "Contemporary art moved into the neighborhood. San Telmo Art District is born."Delfina Helguera
"San Telmo en ebullición"
''La Nacion'', 28 May 2008


Image gallery

File:San Telmo-Nuestra Señora de Belén.jpg, The Nuestra Señora de Belén Church at the heart of the San Telmo neighborhood File:Katedralo de Sankta Triunuo (Bonaero) 08.jpg, The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity File:Buenos Aires - San Telmo - La Casa Mínima.jpg, The ''Casa Mínima'', built by freedmen following the 1812 abolition of slavery in Argentina File:Mercado San Telmo 0020087.jpg, The San Telmo Market File:ElHipopotamo001.JPG, Hippopotamus Café File:Antigua Biblioteca Nacional-front-TM.jpg, Former
National Library of the Argentine Republic The Mariano Moreno National Library ( es, Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno) is the largest library in Argentina. It is located in the barrio of Recoleta in Buenos Aires. The library is named after Mariano Moreno, one of the ideologists of the M ...
building on Mexico Street File:Agriculture Secretariat, Buenos Aires, Argentina.jpg, Ministry of Agriculture File:BUE Ingenieria001.JPG,
University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most presti ...
Faculty of Engineering File:CantoAlTrabajo002.JPG, ''Ode to Labour'' (
Rogelio Yrurtia Rogelio Yrurtia (December 6, 1879 – March 4, 1950) was a renowned Argentine sculptor of the Realist school. Life and work Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Basque immigrants in 1879, Rogelio Yrurtia enrolled in the local Society for the ...
, 1927) File:Monumento del Canto al Trabajo-frente-TM.jpg, Front view of "Canto al trabajo" File:Feria de San Telmo, Buenos Aires.jpg, San Telmo Fair File:MAMBA, San Telmo.jpg,
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of th ...
File:Gente caminando por San Telmo.JPG, Defensa Street File:View down Chile Street.jpg, Chile Street File:Iglesia dinamarquesa - San Telmo - Buenos Aires.jpg, Iglesia Dinamarquesa of San Telmo


References


External links


San Telmo, Buenos Aires


{{coord, 34, 37, 14, S, 58, 22, 18, W, region:AR-C_type:city, display=title Neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires