Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>Buenos</strong> <strong>Aires</strong>’ <strong>Top</strong> <strong>10</strong><br />
36<br />
Left Plaza Lavalle Right Parque Las Heras<br />
Plazas and Green Spaces<br />
! Plaza Rodríguez Peña<br />
Every fall, the lovely flowers<br />
of this plaza’s tropical jacaranda<br />
trees blanket its paths and lawns<br />
in a beautiful bluish-purple. It is a<br />
picturesque sight and, just one<br />
block from the noisy intersection<br />
of Avenidas Santa Fe and Callao,<br />
a perfect soother for busy<br />
shoppers. d Map N5 • Barrio Norte<br />
Plaza Lavalle @ One of the city’s oldest<br />
squares, Plaza Lavalle is fronted<br />
by important buildings. These<br />
include the Teatro Colón (see<br />
pp12–13) and the Palacio de<br />
Justicia (the federal supreme<br />
court). The city’s biggest<br />
synagogue, the Templo Libertad,<br />
stands at the square’s<br />
northeastern corner. d Map P5<br />
• Barrio Norte<br />
£ Plaza San Martín<br />
Named in honor of<br />
Argentina’s great liberator,<br />
General San Martín, this lovely,<br />
monumental plaza is<br />
sequestered on weekdays by<br />
sunbathing office<br />
workers and kissing<br />
couples. At its center<br />
is a magnificient 200year-old<br />
rubber tree,<br />
to the east of which<br />
stretches a broad<br />
balcony with views<br />
over Retiro. A<br />
memorial to<br />
Argentinian soldiers<br />
killed in the 1982<br />
Falklands War and a<br />
Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays<br />
bronze effigy of General San<br />
Martín complete this charming<br />
square (see p81).<br />
$ Plaza Vincente López<br />
This lovely plaza recalls the<br />
elegant city squares of Paris and<br />
London. It is difficult to imagine<br />
that it was once a dumping<br />
ground for the bloody carcasses<br />
of the Recoleta slaughterhouse.<br />
Crisscrossed by paths, filled with<br />
tropical trees and birdsong, and<br />
with beautifully maintained<br />
lawns, it is the perfect readers’<br />
square. It has a children’s play<br />
area, too. d Map P4 • Recoleta<br />
% Jardín Botánico<br />
Carlos Thays<br />
Wild and wonderful, the city’s<br />
botanical gardens combine high<br />
art with verdant nature. Opened<br />
in 1898 and designed by French<br />
landscape architect Carlos Thays,<br />
the gardens are home to over<br />
5,500 plant species from every<br />
continent. The plant life is interspersed<br />
with classical statues<br />
and fountains. d Map L3 • Palermo<br />
Watch tango from under a canopy of trees at the Jardín<br />
Botánico, which holds free cultural events on weekends.
Change language