Palermo - Buenos Aires - page 308

DON'T MISS…
» Walking, bicycling or roller-blading around the rose garden and nearby lakes on a warm sunny
weekend, when the ring road is closed to vehicular traffic and outdoor rentals abound.
PRACTICALITIES
» MAP
» cnr Avs del Libertador & de la Infanta Isabel
» 10, 34, 130
The area around Parque 3 de Febrero was originally the private retreat of 19th-century
dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas and became public parkland only after his fall from power
- on February 3, 1852. Ironically for Rosas, the man who overthrew him - former ally
Justo José de Urquiza - sits on his mount in a mammoth equestrian monument at the corner
of Avs Sarmiento and Presidente Figueroa Alcorta.
In 1875, Parque 3 de Febrero was inaugurated by Argentina's president, Nicolas Avel-
laneda. It was designed by Charles Thays, a French botanist and landscape architect who
also worked on Plaza de Mayo, Barracas de Belgrano and Parque Lezama. Thays used
London's Hyde Park and Paris' Bois de Boulogne as inspiration for his work here.
The park's most interesting destinations include the Jardín Japonés ( Click here ) , the
Jardín Zoológico ( Click here ) , the Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays MAP GOOGLE MAP (Botan-
ical Gardens; dawn-dusk) F and the Planetario Galileo Galilei MAP GOOGLE MAP (
4771-9393; www.planetario.gov.ar ; cnr Avs Sarmiento & Belisario Roldán) . More exclusive are the
Campo Argentino de Polo ( Click here ) and the Hipódromo Argentino (the racetrack). Just
south of the zoo, and a major landmark in Palermo, is Plaza Italia, a half-moon-shaped
traffic island and important transport hub.