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Capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
Photo: Taken by the uploader, w:es:Usuario:Barcex, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
La Plata is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province. This planned city is recognized for its layout, a perfect square with the "Historic Axis" preserved intact until today; and for the outstanding design of the diagonals that cross it forming rhombuses within its contour, forests and squares placed exactly every six blocks.
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Museo de La Plata
Highlight of the city - contains numerous (some huge) dinosaur skeletons, a detailed exploration of the numerous pre-Columbian cultures in South America, and other world class exhibits. The museum isn't quite up there with its cousins in New York City or London - but it is not far off.
The provincial museum of fine arts has reopened after its refurbishment. Small exhibition space displaying temporary contemporary art exhibitions.
The club was founded in 1887 in 7th Street between 46th and 47th as a Social and Sport Institution. It started in the disciplines of gymnastics and fencing. In 1912, the club added social activities: the practice of football, which allowed a great deal of solvency by winning the tournament of 1915 and obtaining the privilege of playing in Premier League. It continued adding other sports such as basketball, women's volleyball, athletics, gymnastics, fencing, boxing, rugby, water polo, swimming. All these sports had high performance representatives. The museum was founded to protect and preserve the history of the institution. It began with the task of recovering the elements which belonged to its heritage and restoring ancient armours and goods. It exhibits bronze medals and shields, cups and trophies, flags, guns of the Tire Section, swords, books, paintings, t-shirts, a photographic archive and a record of the members between 1894 and 1932.
The city of La Plata was one of the hardest hit cities by the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983. Thousands of young people belonging to different political and guerrilla groups were persecuted, tortured, killed or they just “disappeared”. Among the most painful events is what happened in the house on 30th Street between 55th and 56th Street, where Diana Teruggi and Daniel Mariani lived with their daughter Clara Anahí. From outside, the house seemed to be a place where the owners bred rabbits and prepared and sold them as marinade food. But indeed there was one of the most important secret printing houses belonging to the “Montoneros” Organization. On November 24, 1976, the house was attacked by a Commando of the Provincial Police and Military Force: five guerrillas were killed. Clara Anahí was 3 months old at that moment and she has never been found since then. Her grandmother is still looking for her. The house is in its original state. It's part of Argentine memory and history, and certainly worth a visit.
It is a private collection of musical instruments donated by Dr Emilio Azzarini, a genetic veterinarian, to the University of La Plata in 1963. There you can find important musical instruments from all over the world, all of them with their corresponding acquisition date. From Europe: an Italian Beriubai resonator, a whistle receptacle, an automatic Tiritaina, spherical bells, a clavichord, a Traversa flute, a lyre, a Pu-ti-pu, a Txistu, an oboe and an ocarina. From Asia: a dung-chen, a co-ling, a sanshin, a sheng-shofar, and a summara. From Oceania: a didjeridu and a kooanan. From the Americas: a berimbau, a phonograph, four whistle receptacles and a resonator guitar. There is also a library of 3600 books and scores and a “Book of the Museum of Musical Instruments” that was edited by the University of La Plata and the Italian Institute of Philosophical studies. A very important collection.
La Plata's Cathedral “Immaculate Conception” is the main catholic temple of the city, opened for the first time on 19 November 1932, for the official ceremonies commemorating the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of La Plata. It has a beautiful architecture; its floors are made of granite stone. It has wonderful stained glass windows, but the most valuable works are the wooden engravings, the work of Mallknecht brothers and Leo Moroder.
Curutchet House is a landmark to visit in La Plata. It is located in a green, sunny area with plenty of plants and trees facing the “Paseo del Bosque” park. It is one of the very few buildings in America designed by the famous architect Le Corbusier, and a world heritage site. He projected four levels with a ramp and a spiral staircase mainly because the piece of land where it was built was very narrow. Nowadays it houses the Buenos Aires Professional Association of Architects (Colegio de Arquitectos) and it is open to the public for tours and occasionally hosts events.
Established in 1886 for the new capital, it was designed by Pedro Benoit, also responsible for the design of the city. It has some remarkable architectural features in its main entrance, as well as in many of the family vaults, which include neoclassical, neo-gothic, Art Nouveau (in its variant of Catalan Art Nouveau), Art Deco and Egyptian revival styles. The main entrance is a neo-classical portico with Doric columns. The Catholic chapel, in Romanesque revival style, was finished in 1950. Some famous people are buried at this cemetery, among them poet Pedro Bonifacio Palacios, naturalist Florentino Ameghino and writer Manuel Puig.
It is a lyric opera house and a cultural centre. It has two halls where ballet, opera and concerts are performed, and two magnificent foyers for art exhibitions. The new Argentino theatre was built on the same city block where the original building had been, which was destroyed by a fire. There are free guided tours.
It was built in an “art deco” style at the beginning of the 20th century. Its main hall is decorated in French style.You can see plays and comedies here and it is also a historic building to visit. The first theater of “honest fun” of La Plata was the Varietes Theatre, in Tolosa, in 1884. At the same time, other stages were created where companies of puppeteers and narrators made shows in La Plata Theater and Politeama 25 de Mayo Theatre, both of which were also in La Plata. In this last theater the character called “Pepino el 88” accompanied by his donkey “Pancho” made the audience amuse. José Juan “Pepe” Podestá was the person who gave life to the famous clown that would become the pioneer of the Río de La Plata’s theater. Four years after the foundation of La Plata, in 1886, the first theater whose size was suitable for large lyrical evenings was opened. This theater was called Politeama Olimpo. It is now called Coliseo Podestá. In that first show, the tenor Roberto Stagno interpreted The Barber of Sevilla. The building project was in charge of the Uruguayan architect Carlos Zenhdorf. It was entirely made with Argentinian materials. Its first owners were Vicente Jordán & Co. but in 1887 the circus company Scotti-Podestá bought the property at a public auction. Since then, two stories were intertwined, the one of the building on 10th Street between 47th and 48th and the one of the Podestá family who, since 1885, installed their circus tent in La Plata. The building had to be modified to work as a circus. The building occupied a quarter of a block and communicated with the café El Olimpo. On the first floor, there was a hotel for artists who came from abroad or from Buenos Aires. Because of its movable floor it could work as a theater or as a circus. Artists and animals entered from the sides of the stage, where the boxes are located nowadays. In 1920, the Politeama Olimpo was renamed "Coliseo Podestá" in honor of Pepe’s father. The Coliseo Podestá has a room with perfect acoustics. Great artists like Margarita Xirgu, Arthur Rubinstein and Lola Membrives have acted in it. In the 1920s, carnival and spring dances were held. Of course, they dismantled the seats and put tables and chairs so a great dance floor was formed. The orchestra was located on the stage or in the moat. After being inactive for some time, it was bought by the La Plata city hall in the year 1981.
It is located on the square block bounded by 49 and 50 and 6 and 7 Streets, opposite San Martin Square. It is one of the most beautiful palaces in the city. It was built in an eclectic style, a mixture of French and Italian, and it was designed by the Italian architect Francisco Pinaroli. It was built as a European-style railway station, but in 1926 the railway station was relocated and the building became a cultural centre. Then it was home to various public offices until 1994 when the Municipality of La Plata took it over. Now it is again used as a cultural centre. On the ground floor there is a magnificent hall with elegant columns. It has beautiful floors and an impressive ceiling. Here, visitors can enjoy different activities such as shows, fairs, concerts and conferences. They can also visit the MUMART (Municipal Museum of Art), the MUGAFO (a photograph showroom) and the MACLA (Museum of Latin American Art). Also on the ground floor there is a pub where visitors can have lunch or a cup of coffee. On the first floor you can find the Municipal School of Art and the Auditorium
Reasonable prices. BBQ is recommended.
Variety of dishes and nice setting.
Reservations recommended. High-end. Wine cellar on-site.
Irish pub & restaurant.
Has an alternative and Indie atmosphere where locals, musicians and artist hang out at night. Some of the "new wave" Indie-Rock bands (e.g. 107 Faunos, Los Reyes del Falsete) play for more than a convenient coverage. Concerts usually start very late (02:00).
A four-star hotel.
Five-star hotel.
By train
Trains leave from Buenos Aires all day from Constitución station. Travel time for the full journey is just over one hour.
La Plata is an easy city to navigate because of its numbered grid system.) You can easily walk from one side of the city to another within 45 minutes. Taxis are plentiful and cheap.
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