The 06 Central Hostel invites you to visit the city of Buenos Aires.
This section of Palermo is made up of sixty-one acres of plants, forests, lakes and rose gardens. It is located between Casares Avenue and Libertador Avenue.
In the “Jardín de los Poetas” (Poets’ Garden), which constitutes the city’s “lung,” you can find imposing sculptures of famous writers such as William Shakespeare, Paul Groussac, Alfonsina Storni, Dante Alighieri, Federico García Lorca and Antonio Machado, among others.
It is bordered by Libertador Avenue and on its side arise high category buildings, embassies and top level shops. It is the perfect place for taking strolls, exercising and contemplating its vegetation. It’s often visited during the summer, as there are many organized activities for families and the youth.
1. Jardín Botánico (Botanical Garden)
3951 Santa Fe Avenue (and Las Heras Avenue)
It was inaugurated in 1898; it’s considered as the French architect and landscape gardener Carlos Thays’ most outstanding work. It has a surface area of almost 19 acres and it counts with about 5,000 to 6,000 plant species.
The Argentine flora gets the most important spot, with species characteristic of each province. Other sections are destined to the flora of each continent. The garden is decorated with numerous sculptures and fountains.
2. Zoológico de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Zoo)
Las Heras Avenue and Sarmiento Avenue
It was created more than one hundred years ago. It is an excursion which can take a good part of the day to do: it has a great variety of animal species and its architecture reproduces classic works of the world.
The entrance gate is a reproduction of the Arch of Titus in Rome; the “Palacio de los Elefantes” (Elephants’ Palace) is a replica of the Temple of the goddess Nimaschi in Mumbai; further on is the Temple of Vesta, a circular construction made up of sixteen Corinthian columns, a copy of the one in Rome.
The zoo also gives shelter to numerous works of art, such as “La Niña con flores” (The Girl with Flowers), an exact replica of the work of the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova, Passani’s “El Mono caído” (The Fallen Monkey) and a female figure sculpted by the Argentine sculptress Lola Mora.
3. Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA) (Argentine Rural Society)
Sarmiento Avenue and Santa Fe Avenue.
Tel. 4324 4700
For the past 120 years it has been the most important center for expositions in Buenos Aires. It has 45,000 square meters which are roofed and four conference rooms. Every year, one of the most important agricultural fairs in the world, “La rural,” takes place there.
4. Monumento de los Españoles (Spaniards’ Monument)
Sarmiento Avenue and Libertador Avenue
Its real name is “La Carta Magna y Las Cuatro Regiones Argentinas” (The Magna Carta and the Four Argentine Regions) but its popular denomination is due to the fact that in 1910, year of the hundredth anniversary of the “Revolución de Mayo” (May Revolution), the Spanish community donated the monument to the city. The work suffered some problems: its author died a year after finishing the outlines, and the same happened to his successor, Cipriano Flojeras.
For that reason, even though the fundamental stone was placed there in 1910, the gift was not ready for the centennial celebrations. The monument’s completion was once again taken back due to the sinking of a ship: in March of 1916 the Spanish ship “Príncipe de Asturias” (Asturias’ Prince) sank in front of Ilha Bela, an island in front of the Brazilian coast and there remained the bronze pieces which were originally going to become a part of the monument. A year later, replicas were ordered from Spain, which were completed in 1918. Finally, it was inaugurated on May 25th of 1927.
5. Plaza Alemania (Germany Plaza)
Libertador Avenue, Casares Avenue, Castex and Cavia.
It was designed by the French landscape gardener Carlos Thays, who also designed the Botanical Garden. It was inaugurated in 1914 with curled flowerbeds and a European style garden. In 2004, the city government and the neighbors decided to recover its original appearance.
One of the most important works was the highlight of the “Riqueza Agropecuaria Argentina” (Agricultural Argentine Richness) fountain, donated by the German community in 1910 for the centennial celebrations. The fountain is the work of the sculptor Adolfo Bredow and it was built with soft stone, Carrara marble and bronze.
6. Jardín Japonés (Japanese Garden)
Carlos Casares Avenue and Figueroa Alcorta Avenue.
This promenade, donated by the Japanese community of Buenos Aires, reproduces a traditional Japanese garden. There is a lake with multicolored koi carps, a cascade, a Zen style dry garden, a space for meditation, a tea house and a restaurant.
The garden houses exhibitions and workshops connected with Japanese culture.
7. Columna persa (Persian column)
Figueroa Alcorta Avenue and Sarmiento Avenue
This column, a gift of the Iranian government, is known as “La columna del templo persa” (The Persian Temple Column). It is a replica of the columns of the Persepolis Palace, erected between 600 and 500 BC by Darius and Xerxes. It is nineteen meters tall and it is topped with two ox heads.
8. Parque Tres de Febrero (Third of February Park)
Libertador Avenue and Sarmiento Avenue
On November 11 of 1875, by President Domingo Sarmiento’s initiative, the “Parque Tres de Febrero” (Third of February Park) was inaugurated, named after the date of the Battle of Caseros. The original project was in charge of the architects Ernesto Oldendorf, Fernando Mauduit and Jordan Wysocky, and it was finished in 1876 by the architect Julio Dormal. The later expansions (between 1892 and 1913) were in charge of the landscape gardener Carlos Thays.
In the park, on Sarmiento Avenue between Libertador and Figueroa Alcorta Avenues, lies the Little Red Riding Hood Monument. It is made of marble and it was bought by the Buenos Aires Municipality in 1937. It is the work of the French sculptor Jean Carlus.
In this area used to be one of the most important “milongas” in the history of Tango: “Lo de Hansen” (Hansen’s). Between 1895 and 1910 it was the most popular nightclub in Buenos Aires. It was located on the corner of Sarmiento Avenue and Figueroa Alcorta Avenue.
9. Planetario Galileo Galilei (Galileo Galilei Planetary)
Belisario Roldán Avenue and Sarmiento Avenue
The building has five floors, six staircases (one of which is spiral), and a circular hall with a diameter of 20 meters and 360 seats. On its hemispherical dome, also with a diameter of 20 meters and covered on the inside with aluminum sheets, is projected the sky-blue dome. On the center of the hall is the authentic planetary: a device which is 5 meters tall and weighs 2,5 tons and has about 100 projectors. It consists of a cylindrical framework with independent projectors to view the moon, the sun and the planets which are able to be seen with the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, and two spheres on the ends which project 8,900 stars.
On the adjacent lake is the “Sorprendida” (Surprised) sculpture made by the Italian sculptor Nicolás A. Ferrari, and a few feet away is an evoking monolith of the wise Nicolaus Copernicus.
The first soccer game in Argentina was played on these fields on June 29 of 1867. The Buenos Aires Criquet Club team played against the crew of a British warship called Bombay.
10. Los lagos (The lakes)
Infanta Isabel Avenue and Araola Avenue
The artificial lakes found in Palermo were formed by flooding the hollow created by the removal of soil to construct the railroad bank. They are surrounded by a beautiful forest filled with Rosewood, Eucalyptus, Tala and Ombú trees. You can rent rowboats or pedal boats to go for a ride on the lakes.
The “Museo Eduardo Sívori” (Eduardo Sívori Museum) is found very close to the park, at 555 Infanta Isabel Avenue, and it is one of the city’s oldest museums. It holds a heritage of more than 4,500 works of art from Argentina: sculptures, canvases and important drawing and engraving collections.
11. Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo (Argentine Racecourse of Palermo)
4100 Libertador Avenue
It was inaugurated in 1876, in the adjoining grounds with Rosas’ alfalfa plantations and “Parque Tres de Febrero.” That day, neither trains nor streetcars could cope with the people: ten thousand spectators attended “Resbaloso’s” triumph, the very first race.
The “Tribuna Oficial” and the “Confitería París” form a part of the city’s architectural heritage. The racecourse has a surface area of 148 acres and counts with three cava sand courses. Two of them are exclusively used for the entertaining of the horses. The main one is 2,400 meters long and is considered one of the best courses in the world.
13. Rosedal (Rose Garden)
Infanta Isabel Avenue, Iraola and Presidente P. Montt
The Rose Garden is the heart of “Parque Tres de Febrero.” It was created in 1914 by the landscape gardener Carlos Thays. There were 14,700 rose gardens planted originally; today it counts with more than 12,000.
Its most important attractions are the “Patio Andaluz” (Andalusian Patio), a gift of the Spanish city of Seville, constructed in 1929, the “Glorieta” (Arbor), covered with rambling roses, and the “Puente Blanco” (White Bridge), a magnificent wood construction which crosses over the lake. On the center of the Rose Garden is the “Jardín de los Poetas” (Poets’ Garden), with sculptures of famous writers such as William Shakespeare, Alfonsina Storni, Dante Alighieri, Federico García Lorca, Antonio Machado and Jorge Luis Borges, among others.
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