CENTRO / BUENOS AIRES DOWN TOWN

The Centro is the heart of our City, where you can find all of major banks, international hotels and a wide variety of shopping malls, shops, culture and entertainment. One of attractions is Florida Street, a pedestrian walkway where you can find a lot of commercial galleries ans shops. Walking down at the intersection with Córdoba Ave. you will find Galerías Pacífico, an important shopping mall with a gorgeous architecture from the end of the century (1891), where you can admire old high valued frescos paintings.

You will find Plaza San Martín in the Santa Fe Avenue, a historical square and one of the most beautifull of Buenos Aires. In the past was the last bull square of our city. The english invasion from 1806 and 1807 where taking place here. A nice place to take pictures!
9 de Julio Ave. cross the centre of the city , and it is the widest avenue in the world with 140 metres from its extremes. When crossing Corrientes ave. you will find the Obelisk, a memorial for the two foundations of Buenos Aires in 1536 and 1580. It's the symbol of the "porteños" (people from Buenos Aires)
Another interesting point is the famous Santa Fe Ave., full of shoe shops, commercial galleries, shopping centers, bookshops and cafes and bars; from Plaza San Martin till the Botanic Garden in Palermo neighbourhoud.

SAN MARTIN SQUARE
We recomend to pay a visit in all his extension, as you can find interesting points everywhere. For example:
The magnificient Palacio San Martin (french architecture), with 8100 square meters (1909), ex-property of the Anchorena family. In front of it you will find the actual site for the Argentinian Chancellery, a modern and gorgeous glass tower. In the other side you will find the Monument for the Heroes of the Malvinas (Falklands) where you will find the name of the argentinian soldiers died during the war against the United Kingdom in 1982.

You can find in front of this monument the English Tower or Monumental Tower (English rennaisance style), a present from the british community to Argentina in the centennial of our Revolution of May 1810.

In front of it you will find the english style building of the train station Retiro.
From the other side you can see the glass towers of the Alem Ave. Besides you will find the highest building in Latin America in 1936: the Kavannagh, a 32 storey tower with 12 lifts. Its old owner sold two farms to support this project that took 14 months to be built.

In the other side of the Santa Fe Ave. you will see the "Circulo Militar", one of the most gorgeous buildings, built in 1925 in french style with 1200 square meters. It used to be the house of the family Paz, and guests like the Prince of Wales and the Marajah of Kapurtala have been there. In the corner you will find the Museum of Weapons of the Nation, with a vast collection from our country and abroad, from the 17th century till nowadays (timetable click here)

COLON THEATRE
In Cerrito Street and 9 de Julio Ave you will find the famous Colón Theatre, national proud and gorgeous building with an incredible acoustic, as per opera critics. Considered one of the best lyric theatre of the world and between the three more important regarding symphony. Its central light has 7 meters of diameter and 700 lights. Artists like Caruso, masters like Stravinsky, Strauss, Juan J. Castro, Manuel de Falla, the dancer Nijinsky, Maria Callas and Pavarotti amongst others. You can access it by Plaza Lavalle, where you can see in front of it the magnificient Palacio de Tribunales, designed in 1889. The pillars are from greek, roman and egipcian architecture.

In the corner with Córdoba Ave. you will find the nice National Theatre Cervantes, from Spanish style, a gift from 1921 by the Counts of Brazalote, whom have used all his properties to finance this construction.

GALERIAS PACIFICO & CALLE FLORIDA
Galerías Pacífico is another attraction, one of the gorgeous shopping malls in the Americas with paintings (frescos) from the master Spilimbergo (“El dominio de las fuerzas naturales”), from Urruchúa (“La Fraternidad”), from Colmeiro (“La Pareja Humana”); from Castagnino (“La Vida doméstica”) and the master Berni (“El Amor”). In the last floor you will find the Cultural Centre Borges and the Ballet School of Julio Bocca.
Florida street till Corrientes Ave. has the most important concentration of shops, mainly for leather articles, bookstores and clothing.