Situated on Libertador Avenue 1473, this museum has one of the most important art collections in Latin America. The ground floor of the museum houses a fine international collection of paintings from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century. It contains paintings by El Greco, Rubens, Tiepolo, Van de Velde, Tiziano, Zurbarán, and Goya, among others.

In April 2019, the Museum has been renewed to present to the public two permanent galleries dedicated to the Pre-Columbian Art and Colonial Art collections in the ground floor, with around 400 pre-Hispanic pieces from the Argentinian North-West cultures. 

Nineteenth century French painting is thoroughly represented, with works by Corot, Manet, Boudin, Cézanne, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Rodin, Degas, and others. There are also works by 19th century and early 20th century Spanish artists, including Ramón Casas, Ignacio Zuloaga and Pablo Picasso.

The history of the Botanical Garden of Buenos Aires dates back to 1898, when the then Director of Public Parks of Buenos Aires, the French landscaper Charles Thays, proposed the creation of a Botanical Garden in the terrains it occupies today, bounded by Santa Fe Ave., Las Heras Ave. and Republica Arabe Siria St., for educational and conservation purposes.

The red brick English style building that already existed in those terrains was occupied by Charles Thays and his family. Today this building, that was declared National Monument, is the main building of the complex and serves as an art gallery and exhibition hall. There is also a Gardening School, a Library, and several greenhouses. The main greenhouse in Art Nouveau style, received a prize in the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1889.

There are more than five thousand species of plants and trees from all over the world, from Asia to Africa to America. There are small examples of three different styles of gardens: a French Garden, a Roman Garden, and a Japanese Garden.

As you walk the trails of the garden, you will find some beautiful marble sculptures, such as “Spring”, “Mercury”, “Venus”, and the group representing the movements of the VI Symphony of Beethoven, called “La Pastoral”. There is also a monument entitled “Weather Indicator”, designed by José Markovich, and presented by the Austro-Hungarian Empire community.

This garden is so peaceful that once you cross the gates and get inside, you instantly forget that you are in the middle of the city and surrounded by two of the noisiest streets in Buenos Aires.

Address: Santa Fe and Las Heras Ave., Plaza Italia. Subte station: Plaza Italia, Line D.

Opening Times: 

Summer (September 22nd to April 21st): Tuesday to Friday, 8 am to 6.45 pm - Saturday, Sunday and National Holidays: 9.30 a m to 6.45 pm.

Winter (April 22nd to September 21st): Tuesday to Friday, 8 am to 5.45 pm - Saturday, Sunday and National Holidays: 9.30 a m to 5.45 pm.

MONDAYS CLOSED

January 1st, Good Friday, May 1st, September 21st, and December 25th: CLOSED

On days of extremely bad weather (intense winds, persistent rain) the garden will remain closed for safety reasons.

FREE ENTRANCE

For more pictures of the Botanical Garden, visit my Botanical Garden Photo Gallery on Facebook.

The park, formerly known as the "Field of Glory," was renamed in honor of Argentina´s hero José de San Martín in 1878, upon the hundredth anniversary of his birth.
Following remodeling works by British architect Edward Taylor and Argentine archiect José Canale, the fort, bullring and other buildings that existed in the lands were demolished in 1883.
In 1889 French urbanist and landscaper Charles Thays was commissioned to give the plaza its approximate current form. Numerous Ombú, Linden, rubber plants, magnolias, ceibos, jacarandas, Floss Silk trees, and –oddly– sequoias, were planted.


Plaza San Martín and its surroundings acquired their current physiognomy in 1936, when Charles Thays' son, Carlos León Thays designed the esplanade surrounding the monument. The trees planted by Thays made this park one of the most beautiful in Buenos Aires.


Some of Argentina's wealthiest and most aristocratic families built their residences and mansions around the square, which rivaled in elegance with the ones in the nearby neighborhood of Recoleta.

San Martin Palace: originally the house of the Anchorena family, today the palace belongs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship.

Military Circle (Paz Palace): José Camilo Paz –founder of La Prensa newspaper– ordered the construction of his family mansion based on the plans made by the French Louis Sortaris. Since 1938, it has been the venue of the Military Circle, an army club, and the National Museum of Weapons.



Plaza Hotel: Industrialist Ernesto Torquinst decided to build a hotel at the level of those in Europe and New York. Architect Alfredo Zucker was in charge of this work, inaugurated in 1908. It was remodeled in 1913 and 1978. The hotel is one of the most traditional and luxurious in Buenos Aires.

Kavanagh building: In 1934, Corina Kavanagh ordered the construction of a skyscraper to the architects Sánchez, Lagos and de La Torre. They designed a step building made of reinforced concrete in a rationalist style. When the building was opened in 1936, it was the highest in Latin America.


Santísimo Sacramento Basilica: Aristocrat Mercedes Castellanos de Anchorena, owner of the Anchorena Palace, ordered the construction of this basilica, thinking that if she lived in a palace, her God should also deserve one. It was finished in 1916, designed by French architects Coulomb and Chauvet in a neo-gothic/romantic style. Tha white marbel facade represents Blessed Pedro Eymard with 2 kneeling angels. Its altar is one of the biggest in South America, with ornaments made of marble, blue granite, bronze and Venetian mosaic.


Retiro Train Station: Inaugurated in 1915 based on the project developed by a team of English engineers and architects, in a French academicism style. The metallic structure of the platforms was manufactured in Great Britain.

Monumental Tower (formerly The English Tower): donated by the British community in Argentina in 1916 for the centenary of Argentina´s independece. The clock has a diameter of 4.5 meters and a pendulum of 100 kilograms of weight. It was built with materials brought from England.

Monument to Malvinas War Soldiers: located on Leandro N. Alem Avenue, this memorial pays homage to the soldiers of the Malvinas War. It is made of 25 plaques with the names of all the soldiers who fell in combat in that war in 1982:

See also: Monument to General San Martín and A visit to the magnificent Palacio Paz

To see more pictures of Plaza San Martin and Retiro Neighborhood, visit my Retiro Photo Album.

The "Colección de Arte Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat" houses one of the most outstanding art collections in Buenos Aires, and should be added to the must-see list of any person visiting Buenos Aires.

It originated from the private collection of Mrs. Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, one of the wealthiest women in Argentina, and an avid collector of artworks from different periods by national and international authors.

The collection is made up of over two hundred artworks and objects, organized into two main cores, according to their provenance: the first presents a visit through Argentinean art, and the second, great masters of international art.

Some of the most outstanding works in the Argentinian Art exhibition area are: "Apartando en el corral" (Sorting in the Corral) and "Los Capataces" (The Overseers), by Prilidiano Pueyrredón; "La resistencia" (Resistance) and "El indeciso" (The Indecisive One) by Emilio Pettoruti; "El almuerzo" (The Lunch) by Antonio Berni. The rest of the collection features outstanding works by many great Argentinian painters, like Carlos Alonso, Libero Badii, Juan Battle Planas, Fernando Fader, Xul Solar, Leopoldo Presas, Guillermo Roux, among others.

There's also a section exclusively dedicated to international art, with works by great masters from different periods, among them: Peter Brueghel II, with his piece "El censo en Belén" (The Census in Bethlehem); Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema; Marc Chagall; Salvador Dali; Jean-Baptiste Greuze; Auguste Rodin; Andy Warhol and his portrait of Mrs Fortabat; and Joseph Mallord William Turner, with "Juliet and her Nurse", the most outstanding piece in the collection and one of the highlights of the visit.

The building that houses the Colección de Arte Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat was especially designed Architect Rafael Viñoly. Its exhibition spaces and public, private and service areas are distributed on six rectangular floors, and the entire complex is oriented parallel to the Dock. The ground floor is divided into two sectors, with a large entrance hall, an auditorium for lectures, and the cafe. The first and second floors are visible from outside the building and are crowned by a curved arch of glass and steel fitted with enormous aluminum sunshades, movable panels that allow the interior illumination of the upper floors to be controlled by way of an automatic aperture mechanism. The floors below ground level extend further and have been constructed on a monumental scale.

Address: Olga Cossettini 141. Puerto Madero

Opening hours: Thursday through Sunday: 12 noon to 8 pm

Admission:
General: AR$4,000.
Reduced fee for children under 12, senior citizens, students and educators with ID: AR$2,000.-
Thursdays: General admission AR$2,000 and free for children under 12, senior citizens, students and educators with ID

Website: www.coleccionfortabat.org.ar

Galerias Pacifico is one of the most luxurious constructions in Buenos Aires. It occupies the square block limited by Florida, Viamonte, and San Martin Streets, and Cordoba Avenue.

In 1889, Francisco Seeber and Emilio Bunge decided to create "Au Bon Marché Argentino Grand Shops", similar to the Bon Marche stores in Paris. Architects Emilio Agrelo and Roland Le Vacher designed the building, inspired by the Vittorio Emmanuelle II galleries in Milan, as a covered passage with commercial shops. The building consisted of four identical sections, divided by two crossed central passages. But financial problems and the economic crisis of 1890 and 1908 made it necessary to sell parts of the building, and the stores were never opened.

On December 1896, the galleries turned into the first head office of the National Museum of Fine Arts; in 1908, the Ferrocarril Buenos Aires al Pacífico (railway administration) acquired part of the building for its offices, and it started to be known as "Edificio Pacífico" (Pacífico Building).

In the 1940's, Architects Jorge Aslan and Héctor Ezcurra redesigned the building. The lower level was turned into a commercial sector, separated from the office sector, and the passages were roofed.

The central dome, with 450 square meters, was embellished with painted murals by some of the most outstanding artists of that moment: Lino Eneas Spilimbergo, Antonio Berni, Juan Carlos Castagnino, Manuel Colmeiro, and Demetrio Urruchúa. The twelve painted panels constitute one of the most important mural groups in Buenos Aires, especially the fresco by Antonio Berni.
After years of neglect, the building was declared as a National Historical Monument in 1989, and a year later a concession was granted to a private group to build a shopping center. The galleries were redesigned and reopened in 1990. Four murals by artists Rómulo Macció, Josefina Robirosa, Guillermo Roux, and Carlos Alonso were added.

Galería Güemes is one of the most beautiful hidden gems of Buenos Aires. Thousands of people walk by it every day, since it is located in the busiest pedestrian street in Buenos Aires, but most of them are unaware of the beauty this building offers inside, since the entrance on Calle Florida 165 is completely unappealing. Its back entrance on San Martín 170, however, still retains its original glory.

Galería Güemes is considered to be the first skyscraper built in Buenos Aires, with its 14 floors and 87 meters high. It was inaugurated in 1915, featuring technical advances for the time, almost futuristic, and comprising a variety of functions in its interior: a theater, a cabaret, and a restaurant underground; apartments over Calle Florida; offices over San Martin; another restaurant with an observation deck on the 14th floor; and a 116 meter long commercial gallery on the ground floor, which connects both streets, inspired in the great covered passages and commercial galleries of the time, especially the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele in Milan. Its apartments were home to some outstanding personalities, like French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of "The Little Prince", and Argentine writer Julio Cortazar.

The architecture is a mix of Art Nouveau, Gothic, and Neoclassical, and was the creation of Italian architect Francisco Gianotti. Galeria Güemes is considered as one of the most representative examples of Art Nouveau architecture in Buenos Aires, with its beautiful marble columns and stairs, bronzes, glass domes, and ornate elevator banks.

The building suffered the neglect and lack of maintenance for decades, but a recent restoration brought the building back to its magnificent splendor, including the recovery of the original glass domes, the repairing of Italian marbles brought for its construction in 1914; the conditioning of the numerous hand made bronze pieces, with a special polishing to regain their original shine. These restoration works have won a Special Mention for the restoration of the Glass Domes at the 2006 Ibero-American Prize for the Best Intervention in the Built Patrimony.

The Art Nouveau underground theater was closed for nearly 40 years, but was also recently restored and today houses the Piazzolla Tango show, one of the most beautiful Tango palaces in Buenos Aires.

There are guided visits to the observation deck on the 14th floor every Thursday at 4 pm.
Galería Güemes official website

This is in my opinion one of the most beautiful monuments in Buenos Aires, not only for its magnificence, but also for its location, in the intersection of two wide boulevards: Avenue del Libertador and Avenue Sarmiento in Palermo.

Its real name is "Magna Carta and the Four Argentine Regions", but everybody knows it as "El monumento de los Españoles" (The Monument to the Spaniards). It was donated in 1910 by the Spanish community for the centenary of the May Revolution. But the construction suffered several problems. The first sculptor and winner of the design contest, Agustin Querol, died in 1909, and his creation had to be continued by another artist, Cipriano Folgueras, who also died shortly after. The work was even more delayed when the Spanish ship which brought the bronze pieces sunk on March, 1916 in the Brazilian coast, and replicas had to be ordered to Spain, which were finished in 1918. The monument was finally inaugurated on May 25, 1927.


The monument is made on a 24.5 meters high Carrara marble column, and symbolizes those things Argentina has in common with Spain (language, religion, work and lineaje). It is crowned by an enormous statue that represents the Republic or the Constitution, and raised over a fountain surrounded by groups of sculptures that represent Labour, and the regions of The Andes, The Plata, The Pampa, and Chaco.

In a corner of the large Parque Tres de Febrero, on Av Casares and Av Figueroa Alcorta, lays the Japanese Garden of Buenos Aires, an oasis in the middle of the city. In 1967, the city government lent this piece of land to the Japanese immigrants in Buenos Aires, who in return made this beautiful garden for all the inhabitants of the city.

Its ponds are filled with large koi fish, which can be fed with the koi food sold at the kiosks, making this a perfect place to visit with small children.

The park is beautiful all year round, but the best time to visit is in early spring (September-October), when the multicolored azaleas are in full bloom.