Buenos Aires Neighborhoods - Recoleta

Recoleta Cemetery (Buenos Aires)

This aristocratic neighborhood grew around the Recoleta cemetery where lie the ancestors of the traditional Buenos Aires families. The zone is a must for tourists due to its varied cultural life and cemetery with its ostentatious mausoleums, a symbol of traditional Buenos Aires society lineage. It is an ironic twist that Eva Perón's (Evita) remains should rest there, surrounded by those who, when alive, most despised her lower class origins. Her's is a simple, dark marble crypt with barred doors surmounted with the name Duarte.

Plaza Francia, Recoleta (Buenos Aires)

The Parisian influence becomes evident in the elegant Quintana and Alvear Avenues, with its renown designer boutiques, whereas the area around the Plaza Francia is one of culture and gastronomy. On weekends the zone fills itself with people attracted by the arts and crafts fair and shows given by street performers. Other days of the week activity is concentrated in the Village Recoleta multiplex cinema and the zone's bars and restaurants.

Painting, sculpture, photography and film exhibits take place in the Recoleta Cultural Center located next to the Our Lady of Pilar church, a colonial baroque monument built in 1732. The Museum of Fine Arts with its permanent collection and exhibits that are organized in the Palais de Glace are options for art lovers. The Buenos Aires Design complex with its shops that specialize in decoration and its exclusive terrace filled with restaurants and cafés enjoys great popularity.

Centro Cultural Recoleta

Three blocks away stands the "Biblioteca Nacional" (the National Library), an impressive building surrounded by gardens and parks that was built on the grounds of the former president's residence until 1955 and whose last residents were Juan Domingo and Eva Perón.