Palermo is a or neighborhood 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 ...
, Argentina. It is located in the north of the city, near the
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...
.
It has a total land area of 17.4 km
2 and a population of 249,016.
[ It is the only within the administrative division of Comuna 14.
Palermo is perhaps best known as the ]polo
Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...
capital of the world. Each year, in November, the city hosts the Argentine Polo Open, commonly known as the Palermo Open.
History
The name of the area is derived from the still-existing Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...
of "Saint Benedict of Palermo", an alternative name for Saint Benedict the Moor. Saint Benedict the Moor lived from 1526 to 1589 and is a complementary patron saint of Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
, the capital city of Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
.
In an alternative history of the name, a folk story supported by journalists, the land would have been originally purchased by an Italian immigrant named Juan Domingo Palermo in the late 16th century, shortly after the foundation of Buenos Aires in 1580. Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (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 Confedera ...
built a country residence there which was confiscated after his fall in 1852.
The area grew rapidly during the last third of the 19th century, particularly during the presidency of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, who was responsible for the creation of the Buenos Aires Zoological Gardens and the Parque Tres de Febrero in 1874, and Plaza Italia and the Palermo Race Track in 1876, all on the grounds of what had been Rosas' pleasure villa.
During the 20th century, the Buenos Aires Botanical Gardens (1902), Jorge Newbery Airport (1948), the water purification plant, several sport clubs, the Galileo Galilei planetarium (1966), and the Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens (1967) were developed.
Subdivisions
Although appearing as one big swath on the official map, Palermo can be subdivided into several contrasting and acutely individual parts, the most clearly delimited of which may be considered further ''de facto'' neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.
Palermo Chico y Barrio Parque
The most upmarket part of Palermo, "Palermo Chico" ("Small" or "Exclusive" Palermo), is on Palermo's north-eastern edge, across Figueroa Alcorta Avenue and between San Martín de Tours and Tagle streets. Neighboring "Barrio Parque" is strictly a residential area, laid out in winding streets by ; many of the wealthy and famous own homes in this section, which also includes numerous embassies and the San Martín National Institute. It was once an area full of splendid mansions set in broad private parks; many have been demolished by developers. The quarter nevertheless remains one of the wealthiest in the city, home to luxury condominium and apartment developments, the largest of which is currently the Le Parc Figueroa Alcorta towers. MALBA, the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires, is located next door between Barrio Parque and the Paseo Alcorta shopping center.
Palermo Norte, Alto Palermo y Villa Freud
Alto Palermo is downtown Palermo, the main shopping area and transport hub around Santa Fe Avenue
Avenida Santa Fe is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The artery is essential to the imaginary axis of Barrio Norte, Buenos Aires, Barrio Norte in Buenos Aires, comprising the areas influenced by the route of the aven ...
. Centered on Las Heras Park and the Alto Palermo Shopping Center, this section is the easternmost edge of Palermo and borders the Recoleta section known as Barrio Norte. Palermo Norte is located along Libertador Avenue to the northwest of Palermo Chico, and the site of landmarks such as the Argentine Automobile Club
The Argentine Automobile Club (, ACA) is Argentina's largest automobile association.
It was founded on June 11, 1904, by Dalmiro Varela Castex, who in 1892 had imported the country's first registered automobile, a Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, D ...
and the National Museum of Decorative Arts.
Villa Freud, based around Plaza Güemes, is a residential area known for its high concentration of psychoanalysts and psychiatrists, hence its name.
Palermo Nuevo y Palermo Zoológico
This area borders Palermo Norte further northwest along Libertador Avenue centered on the Monument to the Four Regions of Argentina; raised by the Spanish community in 1910, this landmark is commonly referred to as the "Spanish Monument". The Buenos Aires Zoo, the Buenos Aires Botanical Gardens, La Rural expo grounds, the U.S. Embassy and Ambassador's Residence, the Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens, and Parque Tres de Febrero (commonly known as ''Bosques de Palermo'', or "Palermo Woods") are located in this area. Inspired by the "Bois de Boulogne
The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park that is the western half of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by the Em ...
" in Paris and the Prater (or Vienna Meadow) in Vienna, the Palermo Woods are the largest green area in the city of Buenos Aires and itself includes landmarks such as the Rose Garden, the Eduardo Sívori Museum, and the Galileo Galilei planetarium.
Las Cañitas y La Imprenta
Las Cañitas, further northwest along Libertador, was a tenement district early in the twentieth century; but it has since become an upmarket area of high-rises, restaurants and bars, particularly in the vicinity of the Palermo Racetrack and the Campo Argentino de Polo. The King Fahd Islamic Cultural Center was built in 2000 just east of the Polo fields. The Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers headquarters and other military installations, such as the Central Military Hospital and the Military Geographic Institute, are located to the south.
La Imprenta, west of Las Cañitas, borders the Belgrano ward. One of its best-known landmarks is the Parish of San Benito Abad and the neighboring ''Solar de la Abadía'' shopping gallery.
Palermo Viejo
Palermo Viejo (Old Palermo) is, as its name implies, the oldest part. It runs from Santa Fe Avenue south to Córdoba Avenue, and from Avenida Dorrego east to Coronel Díaz Street. The neighborhood is centered on Plaza Palermo Viejo, and reflects an older Spanish Colonial Revival style in architecture, often "recycled" with modern elements. The new headquarters of the National Research Council, opened in 2011 in the refurbished former GIOL winery, is a notable recent example of this trend.
Such well-known figures as Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...
and Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...
once lived in this ward and indeed Borges first wrote poetry in the then quiet barrio. Borges's poem "Fundacion mitica de Buenos Aires" names a typical square (bordered by Guatemala, Serrano, Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
, and Gurruchaga streets) adjacent to his childhood home, a popular tourist landmark. It was historically a residential area, popular with immigrant communities from Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
, Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
, and Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
; as well as old Spanish and Italian families, whose traditions are reflected in local restaurants, churches, schools and cultural centres.
Palermo Soho
Palermo Soho is a small area of Palermo Viejo around Plaza Serrano (officially Plazoleta Cortázar) near Palermo's south-western edge. It is a newly fashionable area for fashion, design, restaurants, bars, and street culture. The atmosphere in many cafés and restaurants strives to be "alternative", which makes this area of the city especially popular with young, upper-middle-class Argentines as well as foreign tourists looking for a "hipster" neighborhood. The traditional low houses have been adapted into boutiques and bars, creating a bohemian feel. The square has a crafts fair.
Palermo Hollywood
In the mid-nineties a number of TV and radio producers installed themselves in the area between Córdoba, Santa Fe, Dorrego, and Juan B. Justo Avenues in Palermo Viejo. For that reason, this part of the neighborhood began to be called "Palermo Hollywood". Currently, it is best known for the concentration of restaurants, sports clubs (such as Club Atlético Palermo, the oldest one[Diario La Razón, June 8, 2011.]), cafés, and an active nightlife.
Pacífico
This area is centered on Santa Fe Avenue, a few blocks both north and south from Pacífico bridge, so-called because of the Mitre railway line—previously called the "Buenos Aires to Pacific Railway"—bridge which spans the avenue and is an urban landmark and reference point. Pacifico is a mid-market commercial area and an important transport hub, for the train, metro and many bus lines connect here.
Public transportation
Buenos Aires Underground
The Buenos Aires Underground (), 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–Plaza Miserere) opened in 1913, making it the L ...
Line D has several stations within Palermo's boundaries under Santa Fe and Cabildo avenues: Bulnes, Scalabrini Ortiz, Plaza Italia, Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
, Ministro Carranza, and Olleros (at the limit with Colegiales). Currently, no other Underground line serves the area, but eventually Line F and Line I will pass through it once completed.
Four commuter railway lines go through the neighborhood: Retiro - José León Suárez ( Mitre Line), Retiro - Tigre (Mitre Line), Retiro - Pilar (San Martín Line
The San Martín line is a , 22-station commuter rail service in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The San Martín line operates from the city-centre terminus of Retiro San Martín railway station, Retiro station north-west to Doct ...
), and Retiro - Villa Rosa ( Belgrano Norte Line). A total of five railway stations are located in Palermo. Inaugurated in 2011, the Metrobus Juan B. Justo also goes through Palermo, though there are no other planned Metrobus lines there.
Image gallery
File:Monumento de los Españoles2.jpg, Monument to the Carta Magna and Four Regions of Argentina ("Spanish Monument")
File:Jardín Botánico Buenos Aires Invernadero.jpg, Buenos Aires Botanical Gardens
File:AutomovilClubArgentino.JPG, The Argentine Automobile Club
File:India & Cerviño Streets, Palermo.jpg, India and Cerviño Streets
File:Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens, 2012 - 2.JPG, Japanese Gardens
File:Lago del rosedal palermo chico.jpg, The Rose Garden Lake and Palermo Nuevo highrises
File:Iglesia en Belgrano2.jpg, The Parish of St. Adela
File:Buenos Aires - Palermo - Malba.jpg, The Museum of Latin American Art
File:06-05-17.jpg, Club de Pescadores (Fishermen's Club)
File:Plaza Cortazar 1.jpg, Cortázar Square
File:Mateos Palermo.jpg, Horse-drawn buggies (''mateos'') near the Rose Garden
File:PlanetarioBUE002.JPG, Galilei Planetarium
File:Polo Científico Tecnológico - Edificio Blanco - octubre de 2011.jpg, CONICET Research Center
File:For Whom the Bell Tolls.jpg, Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Plaza Güemes
File:Calle Olleros 1800.jpg, Olleros Boulevard
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Italian-Argentine culture
Neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires