La Plata (Argentina)

La Plata
Basic data
Surface:	940 km 2
location	34 ° 56 ′ S , 57 ° 58 ′ W Coordinates: 34 ° 56 ′ S , 57 ° 58 ′ W
Height above d. M .:	9 m
Population (2010):	740.369
Density:	788 inhabitants / km²
Agglomeration :	Gran La Plata / Gran Buenos Aires
- Population:	900,000 / 12,500,000
administration
Province :	Buenos Aires (Province)
Partido :	La Plata
Mayor:	Pablo Bruera
	Others
Postal code :	1900
	La Plata website
	map

Not to be confused with Mar del Plata

La Plata is the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires , Argentina . It is still within the metropolitan area of the state capital Buenos Aires , the center of which is about 60 kilometers northwest of the city. With 740,369 inhabitants (as of 2010), La Plata is one of the larger cities in the country . It has a modern cityscape and was laid out strictly symmetrically.

history

La Plata was designed on the drawing board by the architect Pedro Benoit between 1873 and 1884 to separate the provincial capital and the state capital. Buenos Aires was converted at the same time into the federal district Distrito Federal and thus separated from the province.

In 1885 the city already had 21,792 inhabitants (among them 8,918 Argentines, 12,874 Italians), almost all of whom still lived in wooden buildings. At the same time, the construction of a double canal began to connect La Plata with the port of Ensenada , 5 km to the northeast .

In 1952, after the death of Eva Perón , the city was renamed "Ciudad Eva Perón". After the coup against President Juan Perón in 1955, it was given its old name back.

In 2003, the Pentecostal Church was established here in the high-security Los Olmos prison near La Plata .

Economy and education

La Plata is primarily a seat of heavy industry. Another important industry is the administrative apparatus of what is by far the most populous province in Argentina. La Plata has a prestigious state university ( Universidad Nacional de La Plata ), an observatory and a natural history museum, the La Plata Museum .

sons and daughters of the town

Alejandro Scopelli (1908–1987), Argentine-Italian soccer player and coach
Francisco Varallo (1910-2010), football player
Ana Emilia Lahitte (1921–2013), writer
René Favaloro (1923–2000), cardiologist, developer of cardiac bypass
Rubén Elosegui (1925–1991), sculptor and painter
Martha Mercader (1926–2010), writer, journalist, politician
Facundo Cabral (1937–2011), singer and musician
Juan Ramón Verón (born 1944), football player
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (* 1953), politician
Leopoldo Brizuela (1963–2019), writer
María Cecilia Villanueva (* 1964), composer and pianist
Jorge Esteban González (* 1966), auxiliary bishop in La Plata
Soledad Villamil (* 1969), actress, singer
Christian Mazzuca (* 1970), composer and painter
Martín Palermo (born 1973), football player
Gastón Mazzacane (* 1975), racing car driver
Juan Sebastián Verón (* 1975), football player
Leandro Damián Cufré (* 1978), football player
Joaquín Drut (* 1978), theoretical physicist
Luciano Martín Galletti (* 1980), football player
Facundo Bazzi (* 1982), racing cyclist
Marcelo Adrián Carrusca (* 1983), football player
Benjamín Rojas (* 1985), actor and singer
Marcos Rojo (* 1990), football player
Mercedes Lambre (* 1992), actress, singer
Gerónimo Rulli (* 1992), football goalkeeper
Juan Foyth (* 1998), football player
Sergio Parisse (* 1983), Argentine-Italian rugby player and

Attractions

Pasaje Dardo Rocha in the center of La Plata

The center of the city is the Plaza Moreno. There you can see the foundation stone of the city as well as the greatest attraction of La Plata: the cathedral of La Plata . The neo-Gothic church was built from 1885 to 1999 and is one of the largest churches in South America. Furthermore, the city administration ( Palacio Municipal ) is worth seeing as well as the natural history museum ( Museo de Ciencias Naturales ). The museum mainly exhibits collections from the Argentine researchers Perito Moreno and Florentino Ameghino .