Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The awe-inspiring Catedral Metropolitana, with its high ceiling and graceful arches
first floor. It contains an
excellent display on the
Argentinian currency's turbulent
history. The magnificent 164-ft-
(50-m-) diameter dome on top
of the building, only visible to
passing helicopters, is the third
largest in the world.
some of its finest features. The
mausoleum to the right of the
nave contains the remains of
Argentinian Independence
hero General José de San
Martín
(see p53)
.
its empire, serving as town
halls and administrative seats
for the viceroys sent by the
court in Madrid. It was chosen
as the site for the first few
meetings of the liberal
intellectuals who would
together form the first anti-
Spanish junta in 1810.
Despite an attempt to
remodel the building in a
more Italianate style at the end
of the 19th century, the plain,
colonnaded front remains in a
city where civic architecture is
often devoted to Neo-Classical
and Francophile pretensions.
The small on-site museum,
Museo Histórico Nacional del
Cabildo y de la Revolución de
Mayo
, contains the city's first
printing presses, objects linked
to the English invasions of
1806-7, and a silver and gold
shield presented to Buenos
Aires in 1807 from the Oruro
government in Bolivia.
4
Cabildo de
Buenos Aires
Bolivar/Ave de Mayo.
City
Map
3 E5.
Te l
(011) 4334-1782.
3
Catedral
Metropolitana
Ave Rivadavia, cnr San Martín.
City
Map
3 E5.
Te l
(011) 4331-2845.
24, 28,
29.
Open
10:30am-5pm Wed-Fri,
11:30am-6pm Sat, Sun, & hols.
Plaza de Mayo, Catedral.
@
&
Plaza de Mayo, Catedral.
24, 29.
Open
7:30am-6:45pm Mon-Fri,
9am-7pm Sat & Sun.
@
8
3:30pm Wed-Fri, 12:30pm,
2pm, & 3:30pm Sat, Sun, & hols.
∑
^
church
cabildonacional.gob.ar
services.
crypt: 11:45am Mon-Sat;
art display: 1:45pm Mon-Fri; temple &
crypt: 3pm Mon-Sat; children: 3pm
Sun.
8
Built between 1725 and 1822,
the Cabildo was the first
building in Buenos Aires to be
constructed completely from
bricks. An elegant low-slung
colonial-style building, it was
the capital's hub of officialdom.
Spain erected
cabildos
across
8am, 9am, 12:30pm, & 6pm
Mon-Fri; 11am & 6pm Sat; 11am,
noon, 1pm, & 6pm Sun.
5
7
∑
catedralbuenosaires.org.ar
The eighth Roman Catholic
church to be built on this site,
this Greco-Roman building is
the seat of the diocese of
Santísima Trinidad in Peru. Built
between the 16th and 19th
centuries, the Catedral
Metropolitana has 12 columns
on the façade symbolizing the
Apostles, and above these a
bas-relief showing Jacob meet-
ing his son Joseph in Egypt.
The Baroque interior provides a
cool escape from the busy and
- in summer - hot plaza
outside. The Venetian mosaic
floors, silver-plated Rococo altar,
and a life-size Christ carved
out of native carob wood are
Colonial arches open into a cobbled courtyard, Cabildo de Buenos Aires
