San Telmo - Buenos Aires, Argentina

It´s one of the oldest and traditional neighborhoods in the city, called originally Altos de San Pedro, and then San Pedro Telmo, that has the particularity of having a quite important historical conservation and a great linking to the tango. This neighborhood that was one of those more affected by the yellow fever of 1870, had population's exodus and deterioration that stopped their growth, for what many new buildings were not added in substitution of the old ones, like it passed in most of the city. In the last years a very big revaluation of this neighborhood that brought growth and investments again, took place but inside a mark of conservation of the historical patrimony, what took to many recycle tasks. They stand out in this neighborhood the street Defensa, considered the oldest in Buenos Aires. In this street is the Plaza Dorrego, declared National Historical Monument, in the one that the weekends tango shows, mimes and
 

Russian Orthodox Church Click here to enlarge

Plaza Dorrego Square Click here to enlarge

Lezama Park Click here to enlarge

payadores are made. Also in this area several local of antiques are resided. They stand out the 1734 building of the Church of San Telmo, the Museum of Modern Art, an enormous building of bricks that before belonged to a tobacco factory, the Market San Telmo in Carlos Calvo and Bolivar, with an intact architecture of more than 100 years, the Viejo Almacén, place tanguero par excellence, besides other so many coffee and pubs that are in the proximities of the Plaza Dorrego. In an end of the neighborhood it is the Park Lezama, erected in a difference in the old ravine of the river, considered as one of the supposed locations of the first foundation that has in their interior the gratuitous National Museum of History, in the old residence of the family Lezama, a mirador, an amphitheater and monuments like that of the International Confraternity donated by the city of Montevideo, and that of Pedro de Mendoza. In front of the park he/she is the Russian Orthodox Church, with their typical domes. In this park part of the history of "Sobre Héroes y Tumbas" of Ernesto Sábato is centered.
 

It's the cobbled-stoned streets and the old buildings which make this place unique and a must-see. BTW, at night the place is very nice too (lots of lights). It's got some good restaurants and bars.

The San Telmo Antiques Fair of Buenos Aires is centered in the small Plaza Dorrego, which is transformed each Sunday morning into a flea market, with hundreds of booths selling everything from used tourist "junk" to pricey antiques. It is a great place to browse and people watch. Many sidewalk cafes surround the San Telmo market, so the atmosphere is quite festive. San Telmo is the heart of Buenos Aires' tango district, and we were delighted to see a couple dancing for small change in one of the market's open areas.
 

National Historical Museum: Argentine history from the 16th through the 19th centuries comes to life in the former Lezama family home. The expansive Italian-style mansion houses 30 rooms with items saved from Jesuit missions, paintings illustrating clashes between the Spaniards and Indians, and relics from the War of Independence against Spain. The focal point of the museum's collection is artist Cándido López's series of captivating scenes of the war against Paraguay in the 1870s.
 

The Engineering School (Ex The Eva Perón Foundation): This imposing building takes up an entire block. It was once the headquarters for the Eva Perón Foundation, a foundation Evita established to distribute funds to needy children and families, as well as, some say, siphon funds for personal use. Today there is little to mark the former use of the building, miraculously saved by the subsequent military regime, who felt it was too important and expensive a building to demolish as had been the case with other sites associated with Evita. Only a tiny plaque, affixed to a lobby column in 2002, explains the relationship -- though someone has vandalized the sign, stealing the image of Evita with it. Nevertheless, this is a grand 1940s classical building, reserved in style, with simple Doric columns fronting Paseo Colón. It is decorated with sumptuous multicolored marble on all the floors and walls throughout the structure. As an engineering school, it is brimming with students, but it still maintains a hushed atmosphere of quiet academic pursuits. The dean's office was once Evita's own. As a public building, anyone can enter it, but the school offers no information or tours based on its former use and discourages random wanderers.

As an to demolish as had been the case with other sites associated with Evita. Only a tiny plaque, affixed to a lobby column in 2002, explains the relationship -- though someone has vandalized the sign, stealing the image of Evita with it. Nevertheless, this is a grand 1940s classical building, reserved in style, with simple Doric columns fronting Paseo Colón. It is decorated with sumptuous multicolored marble on all the floors and walls throughout the structure. As an engineering school, it is brimming with students, but it still maintains a hushed atmosphere of quiet academic pursuits. The dean's office was once Evita's own. As a public building, anyone can enter it, but the school offers no information or tours based on its former use and discourages random wanderers.