Plaza de Mayo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Plaza de Mayo
City square
Features:	May Pyramid Surrounded by the Cabildo, Casa Rosada, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Buenos Aires City Hall, the Bank of the Argentine Nation headquarters and Palacio de Hacienda.
Opening date:	1580 (Plaza Mayor) 1884 (unification)
Location:	Monserrat Buenos Aires, Argentina
Location of Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires

The Plaza de Mayo ( English: May Square) is a city square and main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time known as Plaza de la Victoria and Plaza 25 de Mayo, respectively. The city centre of Buenos Aires, Plaza de Mayo has been the scene of the most momentous events in Argentine history, as well as the largest popular demonstrations in the country. On the occasion of the first anniversary of the May Revolution in 1811, the Pirámide de Mayo (English: May Pyramid) was inaugurated in the square's hub, becoming Buenos Aires' first national monument.

It is located in the financial district known as microcentro, within the barrio (English: neighborhood) of Monserrat. It is bounded by Bolívar, Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce and Avenida Rivadavia streets; and from its west side three important avenues are born: Avenida Presidente Julio Argentino Roca, Avenida Roque Sáenz Peña and Avenida de Mayo. In the square's surroundings are several significant monuments and points of interest: the Cabildo, the Casa Rosada (seat of the President of Argentina), the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Buenos Aires City Hall, and the Bank of the Argentine Nation's headquarters. Underneath its lands are the Underground stations of Plaza de Mayo (Line A), Catedral (Line D), and Bolívar (Line E).

History

The modern plaza took form in 1884 when the colonnade separating the Plaza de la Victoria and the Plaza del Fuerte was demolished. Its origins, however, can be traced back to Juan de Garay's foundation of Buenos Aires itself, in 1580. Newly arrived to the dusty riverbank settlement, Jesuit clergymen in 1608 secured a title to much of the 2 hectares (4.9 acres) lot, on which Garay's earlier plans for a central plaza had been abandoned. In 1661, the local governor purchased the eastern half for inclusion into the grounds of the city's new fort; this section soon became the Plaza de Armas.

Following over a century of overuse and neglect, the local colonial government attempted to give a semblance of order to the plaza by having a colonnade built across it from north to south. Completed in 1804, the Romanesque structure became the plaza's market and the lot to the west of the colonnade became the Plaza de la Victoria. The area continued divided between these two plazas until 1883 and with only minor changes in landscaping, chief among them the 1811 addition of the May Pyramid, a monument put up to commemorate the newly independent "Provinces of the Rio de la Plata". That year, however, Mayor Torcuato de Alvear ordered the space modernized, resulting in the resulting in the colonnade's demolition and the creation of the modern Plaza de Mayo.

• 

  Oath of the Constitution of Buenos Aires, 1854.

• 

  The old colonnade, 1864.

• 

  1867 view of the Plaza.

• 

  The Cathedral and May Pyramid, c. 1880.

• 

  Fiestas Mayas, 1899.

• 

  Celebration of the May Revolution, 1910.

• 

  Rare snowfall on Buenos Aires, at the Plaza de Mayo, 1918.

Surroundings

Location of buildings surrounding the Plaza de Mayo

Eastern side
Northern side				Southern side
Secretariat of Intelligence	Casa Rosada			Hacienda Palace
Bank of the Argentine Nation	May Pyramid			Federal Administration of Public Revenue
Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires				Bank zone
Diagonal Norte	Buenos Aires City Hall	Avenida de Mayo	Buenos Aires Cabildo	Diagonal Sur
Western side

Today

A panorama of Plaza de Mayo. On the center you can see the May Pyramid

Today, Plaza de Mayo continues to be an indispensable tourist attraction for those who visit Buenos Aires.

Several of the city's major landmarks are located around the Plaza: the Cabildo (the city council during the colonial era), the Casa Rosada (home of the executive branch of the federal government), the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires, the May Pyramid, the Equestrian monument to General Manuel Belgrano, the current city hall or municipalidad, and the headquarters of the Nación Bank. The Buenos Aires financial district (microcentro), affectionately known as la City (sic) also lies besides the Plaza.

Gallery

See also

In Spanish: Plaza de Mayo para niños