Apartments in Buenos Aires
Find an apartment for your stay!
| With its lavish stately homes and plush hotels, Recoleta is considered by many to be the most affluent neighborhood in Buenos Aires. Recoleta is the rich residential area of Buenos Aires. It is also a fascinating place for its history and its architecture, in particular the magnificent Recoleta Cemetery which is there. It is an important tourist destination and cultural center. It is considered as a "luxurious" district and the land value per square meter is one of the most expensive in the city. It is a highly visited district, not only thanks to the Recoleta Cemetery, but also for its great cultural and entertaining spaces like the National Fine Arts Museum or Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, the National Library of Argentina, Recoleta Cultural Center, various exhibition venues, the commercial center “Buenos Aires Design” which groups together shops, and an important cinema complex: “Village Recoleta”. Recoleta is accessible by the “D Line” of the Subway, which passes through the neighborhood. It is composed of the area limited by Montevideo and Uruguay Streets, Córdoba Avenue, Mario Bravo and Coronel Díaz Streets, Las Heras Avenue, Tagle Street, the F.G.B.M railway, Jerónimo Salguero Street, and by the “Río de La Plata”. The name of the neighborhood comes from the Monastery of the Recollect Fathers (Convento de Recoletos Descalzos), members of the Franciscan Order which was established in the area at the beginning of the 18th century. They founded a monastery and a church dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Pilar with a cemetery attached. At the time, Recoleta was a solitary and desolate area unaware of the changes that were to come. Recoleta pathway is nearly the exact geographic center of the neighborhood, and one of its highest points in the city, which, at the end of the 19th century attracted wealthy families from the south of the city who sought to escape from the deadly yellow fever outbreak which began in 1871. From that time on, Recoleta has been one of the most stylish and expensive neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, home to private family mansions, foreign embassies, and luxury hotels, including the Alvear Palace Hotel, the most sumptuous in all of Latin America. Today, Recoleta is characterized by its elegantly dressed residents seen meandering along exclusive avenues and dining in in chic cafés. If you want to see why Buenos Aires has often compared to Paris and Madrid then Recoleta is definitely the place to stay. In addition to possessing a wealth of attractions, its close proximity to the city centre and Palermo make it a safe bet. |
|
The cemetery of Recoleta: Open every day, from 7 Am to 17.45 Pm. (Address: Junín, 1760).
It is the oldest cemetery of the city. It was designed by the French Prosper Catelin under the initiative of President Bernardino Rivadavia and inaugurated in 1822. This labyrinth necropolis is the resting place for many notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy and a granddaughter of Napoleon. 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. Set in 5.5 hectares (14 acres), the 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. www.cementeriorecoleta.com.ar Nuestra Señora del Pilar Basilica: (Address: Junín, 1904). With its white steeple and its baroque pediment, Nuestra Señora del Pilar Basilica overlooks the Recoleta Cemetery. Completed in 1732, it is one of the oldest churches in the city and remains an example of colonial architecture. Its baroque interior features a gilded statue of the Virgin, beautiful decorated altars, beautiful cloisters and a small museum of religious objects. It was decreed national monument on May 21st 1942. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes: ("National Museum of Fine Arts" in English). Open from Tuesday to Friday, from 12:30 to 20:30, Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 Am to 20:30 Pm, free entrance. (Address: Avenida del Libertador, 1473). This neoclassical building houses Argentina’s most important collection of art. On display are works by many of the figures in art history, but also includes some of the famous names in Argentinean art. It added a permanent display of pre-Colombian art in 2005. Argentine painter and art critic Eduardo Schiaffino was the first director of the MNBA, which opened on 25 December 1895 in a building on Florida Street which today houses the Galerías Pacífico shopping mall. The museum was transferred to its present location in 1933, a building originally constructed in 1870 as a drainage pumping station and adapted to its current use by architect Alejandro Bustillo. This 1,536 square meters hall is the largest of 34 currently in use at the museum, which totals 4,610 square meters of exhibit space. Its permanent collection totals 688 major works and over 12,000 sketches, fragments, potteries and other minor works. The institution also maintains a specialized library, totaling 150,000 volumes, as well as a public auditorium. The ground floor of the museum holds 24 exhibit halls housing a fine international collection of paintings from the middle Ages up to the 20th century, together with the museum's art history library. The first floor's 8 exhibit halls contain a collection of paintings by some of the most important 20th-century Argentine painters, including Antonio Berni, Ernesto de la Cárcova, Benito Quinquela Martín, Eduardo Sívori, Alfredo Guttero, Raquel Forner, Xul Solar and Lino Enea Spilimbergo. The second floor's two halls, completed in 1984, hold an exhibition of photographs and two sculpture terraces, as well as most of the institution's administrative and technical departments. www.mnba.gob.ar Parque Thays and other green spaces: Inaugurated in 1998, the Parque Thays is a public green space of approximately 45,000 square meters (4,5 hectares) located in the corners of Libertador Avenue y Callao Avenue. It was named after the French landscape architect Carlos Thays. One of the sculptures can be seen in this place is Torso Masculino Desnudo ("Nude Male Torso") by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. The land on which the park is located is the formerly occupied Italpark amusement park, which was closed in 1990. Although a large portion of Recoleta has been developed, it still possesses many other green spaces. Along Libertador and Figueroa Alcorta Avenues, the República Federativa do Brasil Park is located facing the University of Buenos Aires School of Law, Plaza Rubén Darío, Plaza República Oriental del Uruguay, Plaza República Chile, Plaza Francia, Plaza Intendente Alvear, Plaza Dante Alighieri and Plazoleta Raúl Soldi. Plaza Vicente López y Planes, recently enhanced, is found at the intersection of Montevideo and Paraná Streets. Along Córdoba Avenue, the western edge of the neighborhood, are two parks: Plaza Bernardo Houssay, filled with university students, artisans, and resellers of academic textbooks, and Plaza Monseñor De Andrea, at the intersection of Córdoba and Jean Jaurés Street, is a neighborhood area distinctive for its more everyday feel, where petits-hotels and grand buildings leave space for small homes, grocery stores and shops. La Avenida Alvear: This Avenue is an upscale thoroughfare which extends for seven blocks, from the Plazoleta Carlos Pellegrini to Alvear Plaza. It is famous not only for the most exclusive representatives of haute couture, but also for its numerous demi-palaces and extensive presence of the French academy architecture so much in vogue in uptown Buenos Aires at the turn of the 20th century. The Buenos Aires Legislature approved the bill to declare it as a Historic Protection Area. A study by the U.S. television network NBC, placed it among the world's five most distinguished avenues. The avenue was begun in 1885 on the initiative of Mayor Torcuato de Alvear, whose tenure is remembered for its ambitious urbanism projects patterned after those used by Baron Haussmann in Paris. The Ortiz Basualdo Palace (today the French Embassy) and the Pereda Palace (the Brazilian Embassy) are the most famous among Avenida Alvear's many examples of Belle Époque architecture. Other well-known buildings include the Tudor Revival Hume House (the Secretariat of Culture and the oldest of the avenue's mansions), the Duhau Palace (converted into the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires hotel), the Fernández Anchorena Palace (today the Apostolic Nunciature), and the Alvear Palace Hotel, which dates from 1932. Palais de Glace or Palacio Nacional de las Artes: Open from Tuesday to Friday, from 12Pm to 8Pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10Am to 8Pm, free entrance. (Address: Posadas 1725 - Av. del Libertador 1248). The Palais de Glace is a French-style Belle Époque building, modelled on the Palais des Glaces in Paris, the building was designed by J. L. Ruiz Basadre and inaugurated in 1911 as an ice skating rink and social club. As ice skating became less fashionable in the following decade, and tango gained increasing social acceptance, the Palais de Glace was converted into an elegant dance hall and played an important role in the promotion of this new dance phenomenon, initially opposed by the bourgeois elite. Many well-known tango orchestras and dancers appeared here over the years but towards the end of the 1920s the venue went into decline and in 1931 the building was taken over by the local authority and given to the Ministry of Education and Justice. From now on the building was used to house the National Office of Fine Arts and the annual Salón Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Exhibition of Fine Arts) was held there from 1932 until 1954. Since 1960 the Palais de Glace has hosted the Salón Nacional together with a range of other art exhibitions and musical events. In 2004 the building was declared a National Historic Monument. www.palaisdeglace.gob.ar |
Plaza Intendente Alvear commonly known as Plaza Francia:
Facing the Recoleta Cemetery and the cultural center, Plaza Francia is a popular weekend spot for bohemian types and every Saturday and Sunday hosts the artisan market Feria de Artesanos de Plaza Francia, commonly known as the ‘Hippy Fair’. Over time, in addition to genuine artisans and craftspeople, the fair has attracted street vendors and merchants of a wide variety of merchandise. At present, the Government of the City of Buenos Aires has reorganized the fair, encouraging the participation of those artisans whose work is original and authentic. Visitors to the fair may find all kinds of handicraft items, many of them of high quality: leather goods, book restoration, sandals and espadrilles, carved mates, ethnic jewelry, incense, essential oils, spices, satchels, candles, indigenous musical instruments, photography… Of particular note, in the Plaza Francia facing the cemetery is an enormous rubber tree; its huge tentacle-like lower branches cast shade over La Biela's popular terrace. Known as the Gran Gomero, it was planted in 1791 by Martín José Altolaguirre, the owner of these lands back in that time, and is 50 meters wide. www.feriaplazafrancia.com Centro Cultural Recoleta: Open from Tuesday to Friday, from 13:30 to 20:30, Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 Am to 20:30 Pm. (Address: Junín, 1930). The Recoleta Cultural Centre is an exhibition and cultural events centre. It holds sculptures and exhibitions, as well as concerts and artistic presentations and workshops of diverse types. The building where the cultural centre is located was originally donated to the Franciscans in 1716. The blueprints of the construction were drawn by Jesuit architects Juan Krauss and Juan Wolf, while the design of the façade and interiors are attributed to Andrés Blanqui. The building, finished in 1732, is one of the oldest in the city. With the arrival of the May Revolution and the declaration of independence during the first part of the 19th century, the building changed purposes. Manuel Belgrano founded a drawing school there, and since the 1870s it served as a shelter for the destitute. Torcuato de Alvear, first mayor of Buenos Aires, beautified Recoleta as well as the cultural centre; Juan Antonio Buschiazzo gave it an Italian style and created the chapel currently used as an auditorium. The second important renovation took place around 1980 by Clorindo Testa, Jacques Bedel and Luis Benedit, when the building was planned as a cultural centre. www.centroculturalrecoleta.org Biblioteca Nacional de la República Argentina: Open from Monday to Friday, from 9:00 Am to 9:00 Pm, Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 Pm to 9:00 Pm. (Address: Agüero 2502). The National Library of the Argentine Republic is the largest library in Argentina. Originally named the Public Library of Buenos Aires and founded in September 1810, it later became the country’s only national library when it redefined its mission in 1884 and formally changed its name to the National Library of Argentina. The first headquarters, an old 18th century mansion that belonged to the Jesuits, was located on the corner of Moreno Street and Peru Street, within the historic Jesuit site known as the Manzana de Las Luces. The new building is located at the site of the Unzué Palace, the official residence where President Juan Perón and his late wife Evita resided. Following a politically motivated demolition of the Unzué Palace in 1958, the grounds were designated for the library's new main building. The brutalist structure was designed in 1961, though construction did not begin until 1971. The new library was inaugurated on April 10, 1992. Remarkable intellectual figures of our culture managed this institution, namely, Marcos Sastre, José Mármol, Vicente Quesada, Paul Groussac and Jorge Luis Borges. But, beyond its enlightened past, the most important role of the National Library as the center of Argentinian culture is the activity offered to visitors. Its aim is not confined to preserving the library collection and making them available to the public, but to promoting events such as exhibitions, conferences, performances, movies, concerts of all kind, competitions and an array of courses of studies. www.bn.gov.ar Floralis Genérica: It represents a large flower made of stainless steel with aluminum skeleton and reinforced concrete, which looks at the sky, extending to its six petals. It weighs eighteen tons and is 23 meters high. Located in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas, Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, it is a gift to the city by the Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. Catalano once said that the flower "is a synthesis of all the flowers and is both a hope that is reborn every day to open." It was created in 2002. The sculpture moves, closing its petals in the evening and opening them in the morning. Next to the flower, you could see the impressive building of the faculty of Law of Buenos Aires with its columns. Buenos Aires Design shopping mall & other shopping centres: Open from Monday to Saturday, from 10:00 Am to 9:00 Pm, Sunday from 12:00 Pm to 9:00 Pm. (Address: Av. Pueyrredón 2501). A visit to Recoleta would not be complete without seeing its shopping areas. You can check out the latest in local style and design at Buenos Aires Design which is the only mall in Buenos Aires entirely devoted to designing, building, equipping and decorating your home or your working place. In its three stories it has shops of renowned design brands, terraces with bars in the open and restaurants. Another fact that makes this place unique is the fact that the only branch of the famous chain of restaurants Hard Rock Café is located here. Recoleta Mall or Village Recoleta is located on Vicente López street, between Junín and Uriburu, the Mall covers 41.800 square meters, distributed in 4 floors, with 75 business proposals and services, among which you can find a 10-cinema complex. Inaugurated on July 14th, 2011 there is an innovative Roof Garden in the last floor, a varied and international food offer and 420 parking spots, among others. Designed by English Argentine architect Juan Waldorp, Patio Bullrich was originally built as an auction house in 1867 for the prominent local Bullrich family. The upscale area's rising real estate values prompted the Bullrich family to sell the acre-size Avenida del Libertador lot to Alto Palermo, S.A., a leading local commercial real estate developer during the mid-1980s. Alto Palermo commissioned Pfeifer & Zurdo Architects to convert the cavernous building into a shopping center. Designing a six-story arcade they maintained some of the original aspects of Waldorp's design. Inaugurated in August 1988, modernized and expanded in 1995, Patio Bullrich includes 89 retail outlets and it is the most elegant mall of the city. www.designrecoleta.com.ar www.recoletamall.com.ar www.shoppingbullrich.com.ar |
