Recoleta

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Location of Recoleta in Buenos Aires

Recoleta is a district in the north of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires . The district is one of the most elegant and expensive residential and business areas in the capital. La Recoleta is located north of the Microcentro, between the districts of Retiro and Palermo on the Río de la Plata .

description

Recoleta has 188,780 inhabitants on an area of ​​5.4 km² (as of 2001), which means a population density of 34,959 inhabitants per km². Compared with the average residential density of a good 13,000 inhabitants / km², Recoleta is well above the average. Between 1991 and 2001 the population decreased by about 5 percent. Together with the Retiro district , Recoleta is also known as Barrio Norte .

The name of Recoleta comes from the Franciscan order "Convento de Recoletos Descalzos", who built the church Nuestra Señora del Pilar on Plazoleta Recoleta and a cemetery at the beginning of the 18th century . The construction of the parish church was completed in 1732 and formed the historic center of the district on the embankment to the Río de la Plata . After the church, the district was sometimes called "El Pilar", but later "Recolet".

Although Recoleta is currently less than five minutes from central Buenos Aires, it was relatively remote to residents in the mid-19th century. When cholera and yellow fever epidemics raged in Buenos Aires in 1870 , the population fled to the surrounding areas to protect themselves from infection. While the poor population tended to settle in the south and south-east, it was mainly the upper class who came to Recoleta, as the Recoleta hill reduced the presence of mosquitoes and thus the risk of infection was lower than in the lowlands.

These families built large French-style villas in Recoleta, giving it the nickname Recoletas, "the Paris of America" . The neighborhood was mainly built at the time when Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world. In the 1950s and 60s, many of the mansions of the time were destroyed in the riots, so today there are modern elegant buildings in Recoleta alongside the traditional villas of that time. Some very beautiful old villas can be seen along Avenida Alvear . The embassies of France , Brazil and Russia can also be found in Recoleta . Despite the high population density, Recoleta is a very green district with several parks.

Major streets in Recoleta include Avenida Quintana , Avenida Las Heras , Avenida Alvear , Avenida Callao and Avenida Figueroa Alcorta .

The national library

Attractions

One of the main attractions of Recoleta is the La Recoleta Cemetery . In addition to the final resting places of other prominent Argentines, the grave of Evita Peron is also located here .

Recoleta has several museums: the National Museum of Fine Arts , the Museum of Latin American Art (MALBA) and the Museo Evita , which deals with the myth of Eva Perón .

Another attraction is the already mentioned church of Nuestra Señora de Pilar . It was created in 1732 by the architect Giovanni Andrea Bianchi, has a simple colonial facade and has largely been preserved in its original form.

The Floralis Genérica is a huge metal flower. It can be found in Parque Thays . This oversized flower opens at sunrise and closes at sunset, and glows at night. The twenty meter high work of art was created by the architect Eduardo Catalano .

Also worth seeing are: the National Library , the Avenida Alvear with its luxurious shops and houses in the style of the Belle Époque , the Palais de Glace , in which Carlos Gardel already performed, the Centro Cultural Recoleta , the Hotel Alvear Palace and the Palacio Pizzurno , too Called Palacio Sarmiento, which was declared a Historic Monument in 2006.

Personalities

Sons and Daughters of Recoleta

Personalities related to Recoleta

literature

Web links

Commons : Recoleta, Buenos Aires  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistics
  2. ^ Barriada

Coordinates: 34 ° 35 ′  S , 58 ° 23 ′  W