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December 4, 2019: Leaving the Ship/Walking Around Buenos Aires |
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December 2, 2019: A Day in Montevideo, Uruguay |
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Return to the Index for 2019 |
This morning, we have docked the cruise port of Buenos Aires, which turns out to be only blocks from some of the most touristy areas of the city. Although Buenos Aires is our last port of call, we aren't leaving the ship today; it will be our hotel for one more night. Today, since we are planning to sty in Buenos Aires on our own until this coming Saturday, December 7, we have decided just to do the "included" ship tour today. Since that tour is not until after lunch, Fred and I have decided just to take the ship-supplied shuttle into the city to walk around in the morning, and then we will join Greg on the included tour this afternoon.
Docking in Buenos Aires
If I had spent some time looking at one of the maps on the TV screens around the ship yesterday, I would have known that the trip from Montevideo to Buenos Aires is only about a hundred and twenty-five miles across the Rio la Plata and upstream just a bit. (We actually went out into the ocean to stooge around for part of the night.)
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But the captain had to stretch a four-hour trip into twelve hours, so we had to take a circuitous course to get across the river, which meant some aimless cruising (represented by the route I drew on the map) to eat up time). I know what you're thinking- "Why didn't the ship just stay at the Montevideo dock until the middle of the night and then go directly across the river? Wouldn't this have saved fuel and wear and tear on the ship itself?" These seem like reasonable questions, and I'll admit I don't have an answer.
Maybe one reason for the nighttime cruising is to give passengers something to watch in the evening when they go walking on deck, or maybe it's because there might be a lot of noise dockside at night. It might also be that ports charge such a high fee per hour or per day so that using up fuel is cheaper. One of these days I should find out.
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By the time I got up on deck, we were already docked, so I am not sure whether the captain came inside the breakwater from the north or the south, but either way, he had to pass the dock, stop, and then back into it. It may be that this is something of a delicate procedure, and not one that would benefit from an audience, although I'll admit I was wishing that I had known exactly when the captain would come into the harbor so I could watch the procedure.
But I guess that's why cruise ship captains get the big bucks- because they have to do tricky maneuvers like this without committing the ultimate faux pas or crashing into another ship or the dock. In any event, we were up on deck about 8:30, taking pictures after we docked. As we were pointed outward, the starboard side of the ship offered views of the dock and Buenos Aires. The dock was pretty commercial (necessitating a shuttle from the ship to the actual cruise terminal). But the views from the ship were interesting nevertheless:
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I also made a few panoramic pictures; and this is the best of them:
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Our first foray into Buenos Aires will take us to the area of older buildings to the right of the newer downtown core- in the general direction of the light pole just right of center in the panoramic view above.
A Morning Walk in Buenos Aires
As I said earlier, Fred and I decided to take a morning walk around a small part of Buenos Aires ahead of the afternoon tour that we would take. Greg was doing something different today- taking a tour that included more Evita-Peron-centric city sights; he was also meeting someone he knew in the city.
The Bus Ride into Buenos Aires
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The ship was providing a shuttle service between the port and the south end of General San Martin Park, as this is a centrally-located starting point for walking through the main shopping area of Buenos Aires.
We planned to just take the bus to its drop-off point and then walk around that area for a bit, at first intending to take the bus back to the port. But when we saw the park, it looked interesting enough that we thought we might just walk all the way back to the cruise terminal.
As it turned out, the first part of the walk was pretty nice, but after the couple of blocks of the park and then past what is known as the Monumental Tower, the rest of the walk back was on nondescript (and, frankly, a bit seedy) city streets.
So along about ten in the morning, Fred and I went down to the gangway to leave the ship, and hopped on one of the port shuttles over to the cruise terminal building. Outside, we followed the signs to the Viking "Jupiter" shuttle bus that would take us about two miles into the city.
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The first thing Fred noticed when we got off the bus was all the nearby Jacaranda trees that were blooming (remember, even though it was December, we are in the Southern Hemisphere, and thus in springtime).
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Echeverria was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, cultural promoter, and political activist who played a significant role in the development of Argentine literature, not only through his own writings but also through his organizational efforts. He was one of Latin America's most important Romantic authors.
In case you are curious, the two inscriptions on the statue's pedestal read: "You Argentines fight for democracy in May and your cause is not only legitimate but also holy in the eyes of God and the free peoples of the world." and "Miserable are those who hesitate when tyranny feeds on the bowels of the homeland."
We hung out in this little park for just a bit before deciding to walk a ways down Peatonal Florida, just to see what it was like. We thought we'd walk for a ways and then come back to the park via a different street.
On Calle Florida
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Our walk took us south on Calle Florida, then east on Viamonte. Eventually, we returned to Plaza San Martin by coming back north on different streets- Calle San Martin and Calle Paraguay.
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We turned left on Viamonte, walked a single block, and came to a small church- the Monasterio Santa Catalina.
Monasterio Santa Catalina
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Just before we entered the church, Fred got a picture of me in the arched entry and then, from a bit further back, got another good view of the facade of the church.
The church facade was modified in 1910, according to plans by the architect Juan A. Buschiazzo, and the original austerity of the building was superseded by a more ornate treatment. In the modification of 1910, the stained glass windows (seen here and here) were expanded, and the image of Santa Catalina de Siena was installed on the peak of the roof above the main facade.
The presbytery is rectangular in shape and has a low dome. The only tower is located on the left side of the building. Inside the church, we found a single nave; the church is not a large one, with perhaps fifteen rows of pews facing the altar. The altars date from the 18th and early 19th centuries; the main altarpiece dates from 1776; made of carved, gilded and polychrome wood, it is about 35 feet high and was carved by the Spanish artist Isidro Lorea. Along the sides of the nave, there are six more altars and so, that makes seven in all when the main altarpiece is included. I thought I would do a survey of these altars, each of which was different. Here are all seven of the altars, with the main altar in the middle:
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Fred took a couple of pictures inside the nave of the sides of it; you will be able to see the secondary altars along the side and also the clerestory windows above them:
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At the beginning of the 18th century, the construction of convents was promoted in Buenos Aires. In 1717, King Felipe V of Spain gave the authorization for the founding of a convent of Dominican Nuns in the city. For the foundation, five nuns from the Monastery of Santa Catalina de Siena in the city of Córdoba were transferred to Buenos Aires, and they arrived in 1745, with the unfinished church and convent inaugurated that same year. In celebration, the city was illuminated for three nights and in the monastery the religious festivals lasted as many days.
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In 1770 there were thirty-six cells; just less than half of these were used for various convent functions, so the nuns themselves were two or three to a cell.
In 1875 the main door on Calle San Martín was closed and the goal was moved to Viamonte Street, bringing it closer to the sacristy for the convenience of the Community and the chaplains.
In 1964 , the Dominican order undertook a restoration of the convent, seeking to restore its 18th-century appearance. The monastery was occupied by the Nuns of the Second Dominican Order until 1974 , the year in which the congregation moved to a new monastery in San Justo and donated the buildings to the Archbishopric of Buenos Aires. Since 2001, it has functioned as a Spiritual Care Center for people who work in the Archbishopric.
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At left, you can see two other interesting pictures. One should be familiar to people who live in cities that have been overrum with scooters. We didn't see all that many here, but the ones we did see seemed to be being used not for fun but for a convenient way to navigate the narrow streets of the city. And when we arrived back at Plaza San Martin, we came out on the park right beside the historic Plaza Hotel.
The nine-story hotel was inaugurated in 1909, with the President of Argentina in attendance. Touted at the time as the finest hotel in South America, it was also its most modern. The original 160 rooms and 16 suites each had central heating and telephone access, and all were accessible via elevators. The hotel was wholly furnished by prestigious London houses, and numerous marble sculptures by Gustav Eberlein and ceiling frescoes by Julio Vila y Prades of Spain added to the hotel's decor. I looked over the list of famous guests, and they included two king-and-queen pairs, presidents and prime ministers, sports stars, performers, actors and actresses, and two standouts- science-fiction author Robert Heinlein, and science-fact icon Neil Armstrong.
Adding to the beauty of the hotel was the fact that right across the street the Jacaranda was in full bloom.
Plaza San Martin
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The land you see at right, now covered with trees, walks, benches, and a dog park, was the site of Gen. John Whitelocke's 1807 defeat upon Britain's second attempt to conquer Buenos Aires, whereby the area became known as the "Field of Glory". The Revolution of 1810 brought an autonomous government to Buenos Aires, which entrusted the Mounted Grenadiers to José de San Martín and allowed him to establish his main barracks at the plaza. An 1813 resolution abolished the slave trade in the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and the slave quarters were shuttered.
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Despite his decisive military victories, Gen. San Martín was forced into exile in 1824 for political reasons; but a reappraisal of his place in history led to his becoming a venerated figure in Argentina after his death in 1850. Accordingly, French sculptor Louis-Joseph Daumas was commissioned in 1862 to create an equestrian statue of the hero of the Wars for Independence and the square was renamed in his honor in 1878, upon the hundredth anniversary of his birth.
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When we came out of the trees, we were in the center of the park, and here we found the fountain and monument seen at right. While the major sculpture of San Martin himself is located in the southwest corner of the park (you saw a picture of it when we passed it on the bus ride in this morning), this monument is to his subordinate officers and his army- all of whom were instrumental in bringing about Argentine independence. Here is another view of the monument, this time looking north through the center of the park. In the distance is the Monumental Tower that we will get to in a while. From this fountain, and extending to the north, is a row of very ornate lampposts.
Following remodeling works by British architect Edward Taylor and Argentine architect José Canale, the fort, bullring and other buildings were demolished in 1883 by order of Mayor Torcuato de Alvear, converting the area into a plaza. Numerous Ombú, Linden and Floss Silk trees were planted. The plaza became the preferred surroundings for some of Argentina's wealthiest landowners around 1900. We continued our walk north, along the row of lampposts, and came to what was, in effect, a balcony from which there were expansive views to the north.
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At 360-feet in height, the building is characterised by the austerity of its lines and lack of external ornamentation. The building was commissioned by Corina Kavanagh, a millionaire of Irish descent who sold two ranches at the age of 39 to erect it. Construction took only 14 months. The building has a towering form, with symmetrical setbacks and gradual surface reductions, the design combining Modernism and Art Deco with a Rationalist approach.
As the apartments in the new building were aimed at the upper middle classes, no expense was spared in its construction. The building had 105 apartments and featured the latest in technological advances, including central air conditioning, twelve Otis elevators, and state-of-the-art plumbing. Those on the upper floors have exquisite terrace gardens with views of the river, parks and the city. Corina Kavanagh lived for many years on the 14th floor in the largest apartment, the only one that occupies an entire floor.
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(We probably should have walked over to tour the Basilica, but we didn't know at the time what it was or how significant its architecture was or how richly-decorated it was inside.)
Anyway, let's get back to the legend. Before her skyscraper was built, Corina, who was from a wealthy but not an aristocrat family, fell in love with the son of the Anchorena family, who were both wealthy and aristocratic. Unfortunately, that family thought themselves too aristocratic for the Kavanaghs, and so they disapproved of their son's proposed engagement to Corina and the two separated. The legend has it that Corina knew of Mercedes Anchorena's desire to build a new home on the land next to the Basilica, so she bought it first. Then, when Corina built her structure, she only made one demand of the architects: that her new building should be of a shape that would block the Anchorena family's view of their church. Indeed it was, and Corina had her revenge.
Before we leave the balcony and descend the stairs to the north, here are two views from it:
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Plaza San Martín and its surroundings acquired their current layout in 1936, when the esplanade around the San Martin Monument was designed and the Kavanagh building was completed. Though the surrounding area has since seen much of its older architecture replaced by high-rises (notably the 1975 Pirelli building), the plaza has remained timeless. From the balcony, we descended the curved stairs that brought us down to ground level again.
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Probably few of you even remember the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas), It was a 10-week undeclared war in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic- the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. But if you are an Argentine or a Brit, I'll be you do.
The conflict began on 2 April, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities.
The dispute over the territories' sovereignty was long-standing and still continues. Argentina asserts that the islands are Argentine territory, the British government regards them as still a Crown colony, and the islanders themselves, being descended from British settlers, strongly favor British sovereignty. Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the outcome prompted large protests against the ruling military government, hastening its downfall and the democratisation of the country and a new Constitution. But the issue isn't settled- at least according to Argentina. It's claim to the islands was added the Argentine Constitution in 1994.
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Leandro Nicéforo Alem (1841 – 1896) was an Argentine politician, a founder and leader of the Radical Civic Union. Alem was born in Buenos Aires to a disgraced police chief. At age 24, he took part in the war against Paraguay, and then returned to Buenos Aires to finish his law studies. He had democratic, anti-authoritarian ideas, and in 1868, he joined Adolfo Alsina's Autonomist Party, where he showed a skill for incisive rhetorics in public debates.
Alem was elected to the provincial legislature of Buenos Aires in 1871. He rose to senator where he opposed the federalization of the city of Buenos Aires. When that occurred, he resigned and helped found the Argentine Republican Party. In 1889, Argentina was going through a deep political and economic crisis, worsened by the corruption and abuse of power of President Miguel Juárez Celman. Alem organized the Civic Union of the Youth, and in July 1890 became one of the leaders of a revolt that Celman to resign. When Vice-President Carlos Pellegrini took charge in his stead, Alem renewed his opposition, lending support to uprisings against the national government in the provinces.
After a failed uprising in 1893, Alem saw many of his supporters leave him. Feeling disappointed and betrayed, he died by suicide on 1 July 1896, by shooting himself in his right temple inside a carriage. His remains are buried in the Memorial to the Fallen in the 1890 Revolution, in the La Recoleta Cemetery of Buenos Aires (which we will visit later today). Alem is now regarded as one of the intellectual forefathers of democratic Argentina.
Plaza Fuerza Aérea Argentina/The Monumental Tower
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The Plaza is bounded by San Martín and Av. Del Libertador streets (San Martin actually curves around three sides of the square in kind of a bell shape). In the Plaza is the Monumental Tower- which used to be known as the Tower of the English. Just across San Martin to the northwest is the Retiro Central Train Station.
We took a circuitous route through this plaza. I might point out that the buildings you see on the south side of the square must have been temporary, for they were not there when we visited. In their place there was a monument at the southeast corner of the square.
This was a monument related to the British invasions of the River Plate between 1806 and 1807- a series of unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of areas in the Spanish colonial Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in present-day Argentina and Uruguay. The invasions were part of the Napoleonic Wars, when Spain was an ally of Napoleonic France.
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| "On August 12, 1806, Cadet Martin Miguel de Guemes, was in Buenos Aires before Dn. Santiago de Liniers, who when observing by a spyglass that at the height of the Abascal Battery there was an English ship disabled from movement immediately orders Guemes to go to the place where Pueyrredon was and transmit the order to take by assault said ship, which was stranded by the downspout. History says that it took less time for Cadet Guemes to receive the indication that he would transmit. Then Pueyrredon ordered the salteno to enter the waters with the Hussars, gauchos and Indians of Pueyrredon and take the fleeing ship. The horses with the water up to their necks arrived at the English ship of 26 canons called "Justina" being assaulted by force, stripping her of her flag, which is found today in the Museo de Parque Lezama, Buenos Aires. This is an unpublished historical fact in which a warship was taken by Caballeria. Years later, in the war of National independence, General Martin Miguel de Guemes, would be deserving of the noble title of National and American Hero." |
From this monument, we made our way into the center of the square to have a look at the Torre Monumental, formerly known as Torre de los Ingleses ("Tower of the English"). The clock tower was a gift from the local British community to the city in commemoration of the centennial of the May Revolution of 1810. (After the Falklands War in 1982, the tower's original name was dropped, though some still use it.
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The clocks (the right-hand picture at left was taken earlier in the morning from the bus) are at the 114 foot level, and the bells were designed in imitation of the ones at Westminster Abbey.
The tower is topped by an octagonal copper roofed cupola. Above the entrance there are the shields of Argentina and Great Britain and the inscription "al gran pueblo argentino, los residentes británicos, salud, 25 de mayo 1810-1910" ("To the health of the great Argentine people, from the British residents, May 25, 1810–1910").
In September, 1909, the Argentine National Congress accepted an offer from the British residents of Buenos Aires to erect a column to commemorate the centenary of the May Revolution (ultimately, it became a tower). An exhibition of project proposals in 1910 resulted in the commission being given to the nephew of the founder of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Although the centenary monument was initially considered to be a column it ultimately took the form of the tower. The tower was built with materials shipped from England such as the white Portland stone and the bricks from Stonehouse, Gloucestershire. The technical personnel responsible for the construction also came from England.
The sudden death of King Edward VII on May 6, 1910, prompted the United Kingdom to cancel its delegation to the Centenary celebrations, and the cornerstone was not laid until November 26. Other delays that followed were due to the late movement out of the square of the gas company that had officed there, and the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The inauguration of the building took place on May 24, 1916 and was attended by the President of Argentina and a group of British dignitaries led by the minister plenipotentiary.
From the tower, we got a couple of nice pictures looking back towards Plaza San Martin:
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We continued our walk back to the ship, leaving Air Force Plaza by its northwest corner, right across from the Retiro train station.
The Walk to the Cruise Terminal
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The first landmarks were the four transportation stations here in the Retiro district- one for each element of the Buenos Aires transportation nexus. These stations were for the Mitre and San Martin railway lines (in that picture, you can see both stations in the nearground and the Pirelli Tower further back), the Retiro Belgrano line (also shown here just to the north of the Retiro San Martin station), and also the Buenos Aires central bus station (not shown), that handles both the local bus system and the intercity lines as well. You can see this entire transportation nexus on the aerial view at left.
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Continuing north, we now need to cross a major thoroughfare so that we can continue up Avenida de los Immigrantes (no translation necessary) which dead ends into the cruise port complex. I have tried to find out why this major street, which angles from north-northwest to south-southeast, is called what translates to "Argentine Antarctica Street", but I have little clue.
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As soon as we got up on the overpass, we had a great view looking back the way we'd come- in the direction of Plaza San Martin. Heading out on the overpass, we could look north and south along the broad avenue, and in the middle, below grade, a separate road called "Paseo del Bajo" (which translates to "low road"):
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As it turned out, our tour crossed this same avenue this afternoon, and our guide happened to tell us that the low road, which is for trucks and commercial vehicles only, was constructed to get that traffic off surface streets and thus beautify the area along the river, which (as we would see a couple of days hence) is rapidly being redeveloped. Also from up on the overpass, near the end that took us back down to Avenida de los Immigrantes, I was able to make a pretty good panoramic picture looking out at Buenos Aires:
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In the above picture, you can see the newer financial district at left, and you can pick out the Kavanagh Building and the Monumental Tower in the direction of Plaza San Martin. You can see the Pirelli Building and then the older highrises in the more commercial area of the city. The place we will stay beginning tomorrow, and much of the walking we will do would be in the area to the right of those highrises- an upscale part of Buenos Aires.
Turning around we came to the sets of stairs that take pedestrians down to both sides of Avenida de los Immigrantes- the street we will take up to the port. In that last picture, you can see that in the median of this street there is an interesting sculpture. Since it was in front of the city building that houses the Immigration Courts, I assume it is related to that. But while I haven't been able to find out more about it, you can see a closeup of it here.
Back at the ship, Greg was still with his friends in the city, so we had some lunch and then along about two o'clock headed back down to the gangway for our afternoon guided tour.
Our Guided Tour: "Panoramic Buenos Aires"
Our afternoon guided tour started on the dock at 2PM, when we got a shuttle back to the cruise terminal building where we boarded the tour bus that would take thirty of us and our guide around to some of the highlights of Buenos Aires.
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I do now, because I am able to find the spots we stopped on maps and aerial views, in many cases getting right down to the level of seeing a building or neighborhood (courtesy, most often, of Google Maps). I have clipped out an aerial view of the area of Buenos Aires that our tour covered this afternoon, and I have marked the four stops we made as well as the general location of a fifth series of pictures.
Leaving the cruise ship terminal, we drove through the rainy streets of the Recoleta area (an upscale residential and shopping area that would turn out to be fairly close to where we would be staying starting tomorrow) to stop first at the famous Recoleta Cemetery. We and our guide would spend more than an hour there, as we wandered through the huge burial ground to see the tombs of the rich and famous (or infamous, as the case might be). Leaving there, our next stop was a bookstore called "El Ateneo", whose claim to fame is that it is a repurposed theatre.
Driving a ways across the city and down to the south, we stopped for another hour or so in the quirky, colorful district of La Boca, which is beside the Matanza River. We were able to spend some time walking around this artist colony area.
Our last actual stop was one of the prime tourist spots in all of Buenos Aires- the famous Plaza de Mayo. The plaza has been the site of many of Argentina's most momentous events, and continues to be the home of the working offices of the President of Argentina. It is surrounded by important buildings, and we were lucky that the weather had cleared quite a bit by the time we got there.
Still, our visit there was way too short, and close to six PM we had to reboard our bus to get back to the cruise port. On the way, we drove through the newest area of the city, much of which is build on reclaimed land along the Rio La Plata. We didn't stop here, but did get quite a few pictures.
We were able to return to a few of these places in the next few days- notably the cemetery and Plaza de Mayo- when we were able to get more pictures. So as you go along with us on our tour this afternoon, if you find yourself interested in seeing more pictures of some of these places, you will get your chance on upcoming album pages.
La Recoleta Cemetery
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This cemetery contains the graves of notable people, including a remarkable eighteeen former Presidents of Argentina. (For, reference, depending on whether you count leaders appointed by the various junta governments the country has had over the years, Argentina has had between thirty and fifty-some occupants of that office. So you can see, a sizeable percentage of them are buried here.) Other occupants of Recoleta include, Nobel Prize winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy, and a granddaughter of Napoleon.
Recoleta is a real landmark. I have no idea why anyone would want to rank cemeteries, but in 2011, the BBC hailed it as one of the world's best cemeteries, and in 2013, CNN listed it among the 10 most beautiful cemeteries in the world. That last accolade I would quarrel with. Recoleta, as you can see from the aerial view, is bounded on all sides by the city of Buenos Aires. There is no place for it to expand. Consequently, what open area there might have once been has disappeared, and now the only trees are in a small area that extends westward from the Entry Building. It's the only open area left, as the rest of the cemetery (as you will see from the pictures we took) consists of narrow aisles between crypts that in almost all cases are built touching each other.
I might also say that perhaps on a pretty day, the cemetery might still be a nice place, but today, with there being intermittent rain and an unrelenting gray sky, the gray tombs blended into each other, and away from the single treed area the cemetery was a monotonous expanse of gray. There was almost no color anywhere, although a very few of the crypts had a bit of stained glass or other color accents. But you will see that most of the pictures are simply shades of gray.
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The order was disbanded in 1822, and the garden of the convent was converted into the first public cemetery in Buenos Aires. Inaugurated on 17 November of the same year under the name of Cementerio del Norte, those responsible for its creation were the then-Governor Martin Rodríguez, who would be eventually buried in the cemetery, and government minister Bernardino Rivadavia. The 1822 layout was done by French civil engineer Próspero Catelin, who also designed the current facade of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral. The cemetery was last remodeled in 1881.
The 14-acre site contains 4691 vaults, all above ground, of which 94 have been declared National Historical Monuments by the Argentine government and are protected by the state. The entrance to the cemetery is through neo-classical gates with tall Doric columns. The cemetery contains many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues, in a wide variety of architectural styles such as Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Baroque, and Neo-Gothic, and most materials used between 1880 and 1930 in the construction of tombs were imported from Paris and Milan.
The entire cemetery is laid out in sections like city blocks, with a wide tree-lined main walkway branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums. These mausoleums are still being used by rich families in Argentina that have their own vault and keep their deceased there. While many of the mausoleums are in fine shape and well-maintained, others have fallen into disrepair. Away from the high-traffic areas (such as anywhere near Eva Peron's crypt) I saw broken glass and statuary and sometimes a bit of rubbish. Many of the tombs have sculptures, and many of those were created by Argentine sculptors.
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As it turned out, I was able to find that list and discover that we had, indeed, photographed six or seven of them, just in the aimless wandering we did in the hour we were here. I'm going to feature those just a bit later. As for the others, we took, between the two of us, quite a few pictures of individual crypts or groups of them- usually those that were exceptionally ornate or had some other memorable characteristic. Some didn't turn out, but a good many of them did.
To make it easy for me to create this page, and easy for you to view the pictures, I began by separating the portraits from the landscapes, and I'll begin here with the portrait-orientation pictures. I have put the best twenty-five of them in the slideshow at left. As usual, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each picture to go back and forth, and you can track where you are by referring to the index numbers in the upper left.
As I said, we did happen to photograph a few of the crypts that are supposed to be highlights of Recoleta for one reason or another. Let's take a look at those now:
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When you think of a cemetery, most of you think about an open, grassy area with graves and memorials spaced out. Some of you, who live in cities, think of them as more confined- simply because there isn't much space left. You might think of Arlington, or Ypres, or perhaps New York City. Many of you think about the churchyard cemetery- particularly those of you in older or rural areas- that small plot of land adjacent to the church where the parishoners are naturally interred. But few of you can imagine a cemetery like Recoleta, and indeed, Fred and I have seen very few like it. (The only other similar one that comes to mind was the one up on the hill overlooking Florence, Italy, where there were walkways and "avenues" along which individually-designed and decorated crypts were arranged. But even there, I remember space between the tombs. Here, except for that central area of trees and very few other small, open intersections, every inch it seems has a tomb on it. So, the entire experience today was something of a claustrophobic one- save, again, for the central area near the multi-columned entry building:
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As you have seen in the pictures in the first slideshow, and as you will see in many of the pictures in the second one below, most of the walkways lined with crypts on either side look like continuous rows of city brownstones or commercial buildings with no space at all between them.
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I made only one movie here this afternoon. It really doesn't show any of the crypts close up, or provide a lot of information, but it does give you a sense of what the place felt like. You can use the movie player below to watch it:
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By now you have probably been wondering: "Did Ron visit Recoleta Cemetery and completely miss the tomb that is arguably the most famous one there? What about Evita Peron?
Well, rest assured that we didn't miss the Peron set of crypts; after all, every single tour guide has that on his list, and, sure enough, when our guide took us down the "street" where Evita's tomb is located, we had to wait in line for our turn to walk past.
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She met Colonel Juan Perón in January 1944 during a charity event at the Luna Park Stadium to benefit the victims of an earthquake in San Juan, Argentina. The two were married the following year. Juan Perón was elected President of Argentina in 1946; during the next six years, Eva Perón became powerful within the pro-Peronist trade unions, primarily for speaking on behalf of labor rights. She also ran the Ministries of Labor and Health, founded and ran the charitable Eva Perón Foundation, championed women's suffrage in Argentina, and founded and ran the nation's first large-scale female political party, the Women's Peronist Party.
In 1951, Eva Perón announced her candidacy for the Peronist nomination for the office of Vice President of Argentina, receiving great support from the Peronist political base, low-income and working-class Argentines who were referred to as descamisados or "shirtless ones". Opposition from the nation's military and bourgeoisie, coupled with her declining health, ultimately forced her to withdraw her candidacy. In 1952, shortly before her death from cancer at 33, Eva Perón was given the title of "Spiritual Leader of the Nation" by the Argentine Congress. She was given a state funeral upon her death, a prerogative generally reserved for heads of state.
Eva Perón has become a part of international popular culture, most famously as the subject of the musical Evita (1976). Cristina Álvarez Rodríguez claims that Evita has never left the collective consciousness of Argentines. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the first woman elected President of Argentina, claims that women of her generation owe a debt to Eva for "her example of passion and combativeness".
Now if it were me, and I was a surviving member of the Duarte family, I'd probably consider having "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" playing softly at the crypt. People were already in an odd mood, it seemed, all very curious to see the final resting place of someone that none of them knew but all of them had heard of.
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"Companion Evita: Every time your name is pronounced, your figure grows in history. You left but you are always coming back and it will be so forever." (Apparently put here by the Union of Taxi Drivers) |
"Eternal in the heart of the town of Admiral Brown" The Council of the Justicialista Party |
Eva Peron National Institute Evita Museum "In tribute to Evita, who chose to follow the path of her people." |
"To the dignified exemplary citizen, a former pro-national senator Mayor Alfredo J. L. Arrieta The municipality of Junin for his people pays tribute of remembrance and thanks on the first anniversary of his death." |
Juan R. Duarte Ex-President Honorari "Tribute of the club Sarmiento de Juan on the first anniversary of his death" |
"It is and will be the guide for Argentine workers and its legacy will forever illuminate the path of social justice." The only union of workers in the study of the city of Buenos Aires, municipal capital, and directive council. |
As you can see, the Perons are seen as friends of workers, as were some of their allies in surrounding towns. After about 90 minutes here in Recoleta, our guide shepherded us back to the tour bus and we were off to our next stop.
El Ateneo
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When we were all off the bus, we gathered together at the side of the entrance and our guide completed the narrative he had begun aboard the bus about the bookstore. With each incarnation since its inception in 1919- first as a performing arts theater, then as a cinema, and now a bookstore- the "Grand Splendid" has proven itself befitting of the majestic title it acquired when it first opened.
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Inside the bookstore, you first walk through what was presumably the lobby of the theatre. This area looks like your standard bookstore, with shelves on either side of the main entry aisle. But then you enter what was formerly the orchestra floor of the theatre facing the stage:
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In its glory days, the Teatro Grand Splendid hosted every legendary tango dancer; building proprietor Max Glucksman was a leading figure in the world of tango in his own right, as owner of the influential Nacional-Odeon record label. In 1929, the theater underwent its first transformation to become a cinema, with the distinction of being the first in Buenos Aires to show sound films.
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Though some lament the loss of a beloved cinema, it is now thanks to the Grupo Ilhsa- which owns 40 bookshops, including the flagship Grand Splendid location- that visitors can still revel in this wondrous monument of a bygone era.
While the selection of books on offer is standard chain store fare and mostly in Spanish, bibliophiles will find the staggeringly opulent display of books to be reason enough to pay El Ateneo Grand Splendid a visit. To fully bask in the splendor, one can also indulge in coffee and live piano music on the very stage where the Argentinean stars of tango once performed. From my position near the stage, here is a panoramic view looking back towards the bookstore entrance:
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The Drive Through Buenos Aires to La Boca
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I have put the best of our city pictures in the slideshow at left. As usual, use the little lower-corner arrows to go from one picture to the next. There are 24 pictures, and you can see where you are by referring to the numbers in the upper left.
The impressive building in the first picture is part of the University of Buenos Aires. In picture #10, we are crossing Avenida 9 July- 18 traffic lanes wide. On a subsequent day, we walked with Greg across this broad avenue. It takes at least three separate traffic light cycles for the average pedestrian to make it across this avenue. Fortunately, there are three separate medians where you can stop and wait for the next light. And in #12, we are passing the Obelisco de Buenos Aires, a national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires located in the Plaza de la República in the intersection of avenues Corrientes and 9 de Julio, It was erected in 1936 to commemorate the quadricentennial of the first foundation of the city.
La Boca
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Coming south through La Boca, we eventually turned southwest towards the artistic center of La Boca- an area known as Caminito. You can tell when you get here- color explodes over building after building.
Our bus came to a stop beside one of Caminito's most colorful buildings, and before we got off, our guide told us a bit about the area and what we should see.
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The La Boca area has a long history of being unusual. For example, in 1882, after a lengthy general strike, La Boca actually seceded from the rest of Argentina, and the rebels raised the Genoese flag (not worrying that the city-state they were "joining" no longer existed). One might have expected some sort of police or military reaction, but instead, the then-President of Argentina, Julip Argentino Roca, marched into La Boca and tore the flag down himself!
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La Boca (and particularly Caminito) is a popular destination for tourists visiting Argentina, with its colorful houses and famous pedestrian street, the Caminito, where tango artists perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold. The street is also lined with artwork; here are some views along that street and of some of that artwork:
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Other attractions include the La Ribera theatre, many tango clubs, and Italian taverns. The actual 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.
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La Boca is still a center for radical politics, having elected the first socialist 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 and lead due to centuries of unstopped pollution).
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The photos we took here in Caminito were pretty amazing; the colors were enough to make them standouts. Almost every snapshot turned out well. Below is a short slideshow of these pictures. Use the lower corner arrows to move through the pictures:
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The stop here in La Boca was an unexpected surprise. I had no idea that Buenos Aires had an area like this, and it was a pleasure to take an hour and walk around.
The Plaza de Mayo
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When the bus pulled up to its temporary parking spot in the block west of the History Museum (sorry about the misspelling on the aerial view at left which, incidentally, I have oriented with east at the top so you can get a better view of Casa Rosada), I noticed something outside the bus window, and when I disembarked I took a picture. Obviously, I was looking at a homeless person or "street" person, but while the family I had seen outside El Ateneo earlier was basically just sitting on the sidewalk, this person had created an elaborate environment, which seemed to be an actual mattress on top of a bunch of paint buckets. Snuggled up in the blankets and bags of possessions, was a sleeping woman (being kept company by the sleeping dog next to her). I have no idea whether people like this are allowed to co-opt spaces on the street, or how long she would be allowed to stay. I have never seen anything quite like this.
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The Pirámide de Mayo is the oldest national monument in the City of Buenos Aires. In April, 1811, with the approval of the Buenos Aires Cabildo, it was decided that the program of festivities commemorating the first anniversary of the Revolución de Mayo would include the construction of a pyramid, although why this form was chosen is not known. At the time, the current plaze was divided by an old arcade into two squares- the Plazoleta del Fuerte on the east and the Plaza de la Victoria on the west. The pyramid was originally sited in the middle of the Plaza de la Victoria. It was decided that the monument would be built of stone and brick, rather than wood.
The monument was inaugurated as planned on National Day, although it would not be finished for several days. There was quite a celebration; the Pyramid and the Cathedral were heavily-illuminated, as was the arcade. The festivities lasted four days and included dancing, raffles, and the manumission of slaves. The monument was originally crowned with a globe, but now sports an allegory of Liberty, the work of the French sculptor Joseph Dubourdieu. From the ground to the peak of the statue's Phrygian cap, the Pyramid measures just over sixty feet.
In 1852 the Jaunet brothers illuminated the Pyramid with gas, using a small gasometer. The public, accustomed to the small oil lanterns, was awestruck by the effect. By 1856, however, the pyramid had fallen into disrepair, and so a renovation was undertaken. The pyramid we see today was actually built over the old one. It was during this renovation that the original globe was replaced with the 11-foot allegory of Liberty. Four other allegories- Industry, Commerce, The Sciences and The Arts- were placed at the four corners of the pedestal.
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In 1883 the arcade was demolished and the Plazoleta del Fuerte and the Plaza del Victoria were combined to form the modern Plaza de Mayo. There was a movement to replace the pyramid entirely with a more grandiose monument, and many discussions were held and suggestions made as to how to modify the monument. In the end, none of these suggestions were acted upon.
In 1906, as the centenary of the May Revolution approached, plans were put forward and approved for a new monument that would completely contain the Pyramid; these plans involved also moving the existing monument to the center of the newly-created Plaza de la Mayo. The move was accomplished in 1912. The marble statues were temporarily removed, the pyramid was stabilized and enclosed in scaffolding and an actual track was laid to the new position. The pyramid was painstakingly raised to sit on a platform resting on solid wheels. The whole affair was then winched along the track for 200 feet to the current position. I imagine something like the crawlers that move spacecraft from the VAB to the launch pad in Florida. The move took nine days and the pyramid was eventually set atop its new foundation. A metal time capsule containing information about the relocation was buried under the Pyramid's new foundation.
On the west side of the Pyramid is a bronze plaque on which two names are inscribed: Felipe Pereyra de Lucena and Manuel Artigas. These names, unknown to most who visit the Pyramid, were added to the monument in 1891 during the presidency of Carlos Pellegrini, in recognition of the first two military officers to lose their lives in the cause of Argentine independence.
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Plaza de la Mayo is surrounded by a number of historic or important buildings- some public and some private. In this view looking north from a position west of the Pyramid, you can see some of these buildings- the Buenos Aires City Hall at the left and the Metropolitan Cathedral right in the center of the picture behind the blooming jacaranda trees. Let's have a look at three of these buildings.
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The mayor of Buenos Aires first proposed the building of the cabildo in 1608, since the city government lacked a home. Funded with taxes from the port, the building was finished in 1610 but was soon found to be too small and had to be expanded. By 1682 the building was almost in ruins from lack of maintenance, a new building was planned. Construction began in 1725 but lack of funding slowed progress. The tower wasn't finished until 1764, and even by the May Revolution in 1810 the cabildo, now 11 arches wide, was still not completely finished.
In 1880 the tower was made 30 feet taller with a dome covered with glazed tiles, instead of the traditional colonial red tiles. The tower was demolished nine years later in 1889 to create space for the Avenida de Mayo avenue and the three northernmost arches of the original eleven were demolished. In 1931, to create room for the Julio A. Roca avenue, the three southernmost arcs were removed, thereby restoring the central place of the tower, but leaving only five of the original arches. In 1940, the architect Mario Buschiazzo reconstructed the colonial features of the Cabildo using various original documents. The tower, the red tiles, the iron bars on the windows and the wooden windows and doors were all repaired.
Currently, the cabildo hosts the National Museum of the Cabildo and the May Revolution (Museo Nacional del Cabildo y la Revolución de Mayo), in which paintings, artifacts, clothes and jewelry of the 18th century are on display. The patio of the cabildo still has its 1835 ornamental water well.
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As an institution, the church has occupied this site since 1580, although in the form of a number of different buildings. The first was a modest wood and adobe building, replaced by a new one in 1605 and again in 1618. In 1620, Buenos Aires was given a bishop by Pope Paul V, so the church became a cathedral. The church was again rebuilt in 1662, partially collapsed in the early 1680s, and yet again rebuilt by 1695- save for its towers, which were not completed until 1725. Between that year and 1727, the main facade was redesigned in the Italian Mannerist style.
In 1752, the nave of the cathedral collapsed, leaving only the façade and towers, and so a major rebuilding and expansion project began in 1753, more than doubling the size o fthe cathedral. A dome was constructed over the nave. The façade and towers were then too small, and were torn down in 1778. Funding for a new design was short, so the cathedral was consecrated in 1791 without façade. Construction of a new Neoclassical façade for the cathedral inspired by the Palais Bourbon in Paris began in 1826 and took 25 years to complete. The façade of the building consists of a tall portico with twelve columns and a triangular pediment on top. The portico lends the building the appearance of an ancient temple rather than a Catholic church. The towers were never rebuilt.
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The characteristic color of the Casa Rosada is baby pink, and the structure is considered one of the most emblematic buildings in Buenos Aires. The building also houses a museum, which contains objects relating to former presidents of Argentina. It has been declared a National Historic Monument of Argentina.
The site was originally at the shoreline of the Río de la Plata, and a fort was built there in 1594. In 1713, a masonry structure (the "Castle of San Miguel") became the center of colonial government. Following independence, a Neoclassical portico was built, but the entire structure was demolished in 1857 for a new customs building- the city's largest building until the 1890s (by which time it had become the Presidential offices).
Presiding over an unprecedented socio-economic boom, President Julio Roca commissioned a new building in 1882. The resulting State House, still known as the "Rose House", was completed in 1898 following its eastward enlargement, and this is the building we see today. A Historical Museum was created in 1957 to display presidential memorabilia and selected belongings, such as sashes, batons, books, furniture, and three carriages. The remains of the former fort were partially excavated in 1991, and the uncovered structures were incorporated into the Museum of the Casa Rosada.
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There are also two other pictures I want to include here.
First, if you will look back up this page at the picture I took of the Cabildo of Buenos Aires, you will see to its left another building with a clock at the top of its facade. Fred used his zoom to get an excellent picture of the clock and the two sculptures above it. The other picture I want to include here is one that I took just as we were heading back over to the bus, and it shows one of the fountains that are located here in Plaza de la Mayo. There were, if I recall correctly, three of them.
I wish we'd had more time here in the plaza, particularly since the weather started to quickly clear up and the evening sun came out. That was fortunate, for the low western sun lit up the Casa Rosada to show off its coloration. After an hour, it was back aboard the bus for our trip back to the port and our last night aboard the ship.
Final Pictures from the Bus Tour
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When we arrived back at the cruise ship terminal, our last shore excursion from the Viking Jupiter had come to an end. And our cruise was almost over, too. The ship would be our hotel for one final night, for tomorrow we will leave the ship for the last time and take up residence in an AirBnB for the next three days.
You can use the links below to continue to another album page.
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December 4, 2019: Leaving the Ship/Walking Around Buenos Aires |
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December 2, 2019: A Day in Montevideo, Uruguay |
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Return to the Index for 2019 |
