La Boca (; "the Mouth", probably of the

Matanza River The Matanza River is a stream in Argentina that originates in the Buenos Aires Province and defines the southern boundary of the Buenos Aires federal district. It empties into the Río de la Plata between Tandanor and Dock Sud. The La Boca neig ...

) is a neighborhood (''

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 delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

'') of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, the capital of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Its location near the

Port of Buenos Aires The Port of 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 for the foreign trade of Arge ...

meant the neighbourhood became a

melting pot A melting pot is a Monoculturalism, monocultural metaphor for a wiktionary:heterogeneous, heterogeneous society becoming more wiktionary:homogeneous, homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative bei ...

of different cultures during the 20th century, when millions of immigrants from Europe and Asia arrived to Argentina. In particular, many of its settlers originated from the Italian region of

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

. The neighbourhood became a cornerstone for ''

porteño (feminine: ''Porteña'', in Spanish) is mainly used to refer to the residents of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is also used for other port cities, such as El Puerto de Santa María, Spain; Valparaíso, Chile; Mazatlán, Veracruz, Acapulco and ...

'' culture, being an important site during the early development of the

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 from a combination of Arge ...

. Today, it is mostly known for being home to

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

, one of the two largest football teams in Argentina.

Geography

La Boca is located in the south-east of the city, near its old port. Another of the 48 '' barrios'', Barracas, lies to the west;

San Telmo San Telmo ("Saint Pedro González Telmo") is the oldest ''Barrios of Buenos Aires, barrio'' (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. A well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis, it hosts some of its oldest buildings. One of the birthplace ...

and

Puerto Madero Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning community as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, is a Barrios and Communes of Buenos Aires, ''barrio'' of Buenos Aires in the Buenos Aires Central Business District, Central Business District. Occup ...

are to the north.

History

In 1882, after a lengthy general strike, La Boca

seceded Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal is the c ...

from Argentina, and the rebels raised the Genoese flag, which was immediately torn down personally by then President

Julio Argentino Roca Alejo Julio Argentino Roca Paz (July 17, 1843 – October 19, 1914) was an Argentine army general and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 1880 to 1886 and from 1898 to 1904. Roca is the most important representative of the ...

. Among sports fans, Boca is best known for being the home of the world-renowned

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club

. The club plays its home matches in Estadio Alberto J. Armando, popularly known as

La Bombonera La Bombonera (; , named after its resemblance to a chocolate box, per Viktor Sulčič), officially known as Alberto José Armando Stadium (, ; named after Alberto Armando), is an association football stadium located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...

(Spanish for "the bonbon box"). La Boca was home to the ''garra'', or a fighting spirit that was represented in the hard working, no nonsense people of the barrio and reflected by the most popular club Boca Juniors on the pitch. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, La Boca’s citizens was characterized for rejecting “art for arts sake” and adopting a workmanlike attitude to work and life, in contrast to the richer citizens to the north, often represented through their club River Plate. In 1907, La Boca became its own micronational republic. Their first attempt was short-lived, but two later attempts were more successful. The former lasted from 1923 to 1972 and the latter was established since 1986. Republic graffiti was still present in the barrio. Another of Argentina’s most popular clubs, River Plate, originally started in the La Boca. However, in 1938 the club relocated to the Núñez neighborhood on the northern edge of the city and became more identifiable with the Buenos Aires elite than the lower class citizens of La Boca. The land in and around La Boca was often controlled by the state or wealthy corporations in the first half of the 20th century, due to its location near the docks, making soccer pitches difficult to obtain for citizens. La Boca is a popular destination for

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

s visiting Argentina, with its colourful houses and pedestrian street, the Caminito, where tango dancers perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold. Other attractions include the La Ribera theatre, many

tango music Tango ( or ; ) is a style of music in Time signature, or time that originated among Great European immigration wave to Argentina, European immigrants of the Great Wave to Argentina and Uruguay. It has mainly Culture of Spain, Spanish, Cultu ...

clubs, and Italian

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

s. The area visited by tourists is only a few blocks long and has been built up for tourism very actively over the last few years, with many market stalls and restaurants catering to tourists. Outside this tourist area, it is a fairly poor neighborhood that has had many regular occurrences of petty crimes reported. It has also been a centre for radical politics, having elected the first

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

member of the Argentine Congress ( Alfredo Palacios in 1935) and was home to many demonstrations during the crisis of 2001. As of 2016, the health of over 1,000 La Boca citizens is threatened by the pollution of the Matanza-Riachuelo River (which contains high levels of

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

and

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

, due to centuries of unrestrained pollution).

Gallery

File:Buenos Aires - La Boca - Wenceslao Villafañe 385.jpg, Nineteenth-century ''Ghost Tower'', on Wenceslao Villafañe Street File:2018-10-19_La_Boca,_Buenos_Aires,_Argentina_(Martin_Rulsch)_09.jpg, The Caminito of

lore, an example of the colour of La Boca attributable to local artist

Benito Quinquela Martín Benito Quinquela Martín (March 1, 1890 – January 28, 1977) was an Argentine painter. Quinquela Martín is considered the port painter-par-excellence and one of the most popular Argentine painters. His paintings of port scenes show the activity, ...

File:Puerto La Boca Riachuelo Transbordador.jpg, The riverwalk at the Rocha Bend of the Riachuelo River File:LaBomboneraStadium.jpg, La Bombonera Stadium File:Buenos Aires - La Boca - Bizcochos Canale - 20071215a.jpg, The former Canale Biscuit Co. factory, now upscale

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

s File:CABJ vendor La Boca Buenos Aires.jpg, Boca Juniors-themed street vendor File:La Boca in Buenos Aires.jpg, Typical local street File:Transbordador Avellaneda Pueyrredón.jpg, Puente Transbordador

References

External links

A Flags of the World article about flags used in La Boca

A Brief Look into the History of La Boca
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