The center of Buenos Aires, also referred to as the micro-center, is quite busy during working hours with people coming in and out of the many government offices and shopping stores in the neighborhood. On nights and weekends many shops and restaurants close and the area becomes significantly quieter.

El Centro is home to some of the major sights in Buenos Aires, sights that are symbols of Argentina. Visit each one of the highlights mentioned below, and enjoy all the shopping Buenos Aires has to offer.

The area referred to as El Centro is really broken up into a number of separate neighborhoods. These include Montserrat, San Nicolas, Retiro and Puerto Madero.

Take a look at the Map of Centro here.

Highlights:
Plaza de Mayo:
The pretty plaza has played a fundamental role in almost all the important political and social events in Argentina's history. Every Thursday at 3:30pm, a group of women called the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo walk around the plaza demanding a full accounting of the many deaths in Argentina Dirty War.

A number of famous building face the plaza such as the Casa Rosada, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and the Cabildo (the old town hall).

Casa Rosada:
The rosy palace(Casa Rosada) is the official presidential residence and government headquarters. The first-floor balcony on the building's northern wing is used by the country's leaders to speak to the enormous crowds that gather below.

Catedral Metropolitana:
Also looking at the Plaza de Mayo, the Metropolitan Cathedral is famous for a marble mausoleum holds the remains of General Jose de San Martin, who was Argentina's greatest independence hero.

The Congress Building:
El Congresso is quite impressive. Finished in 1906 in an Italian academic style with some classical touches, the building is a four-storied rectangle and has two pavilions, one on each side. In front of the Congreso Congress building is another beautiful park. The park features the sculpture "Le Penseur" by August Rodin, along with a fountain sculpture "Monument of the two Congresses", an allegory that represents the Andes Mountains with the main rivers of the plains: Parana, Uruguay, and Rio de La Plata flowing into a large pool below.

El Obelisko:
The Obelisk is a memorial monument that has historical facts related to the Argentine history engraved on each of its four faces. The phallic structure is right at the crossing of two major avenues, Av. 9 de Julio and Av. Corrientes, and is without doubt, the characteristic symbol of Buenos Aires. Recently, it has become a tradition for the Obelisk to be the place where most demonstrations in Buenos Aires start and eventually going to Casa Rosada.

Teatro Colon:
The Colon Theater in Buenos Aires is considered one of the four most important opera houses in the world for its acoustics and infrastructure. It is a magnificent building, in Italian Renaissance style, with a capacity of 2500 spectators, and there are few major ballet, opera or concert shows that do not visit the theatre.
Cerrito 618
Website


Avenue of the 9th of July:
The Avenue of the 9th of July, Avenida 9 de Julio, is one of the world's biggest streets with a total of 10 lanes.








Cafe Tortoni
The cafe is one if the oldest and most prestigious in Buenos Aires. Argentina's best poets and thinker often met with their peers that had fled from the Spanish Civil War in the beginning of the century. Playwrights like Benavente and Garcia Lorca, philosophers like Ortega y Gasset made Tortoni their "home". The Cafe had its own jazz cellar, pool room as well as a tango program.
Av. De Mayo 829
Website

Manzana las Luces
Area where Jesuit scholars lived and that is now the sight of the University of Buenos Aires, the San Ignacio Church, and other historic building. The word "luces" translates into "lights", and signified the bright scholars that lived and studied in this area.
Website (in Spanish)


Cabildo - Town Hall
This building was used as a government house during colonial times. Currently, Cabildo hosts the National Museum of the Cabildo and the May Revolution. 18th century paintings, artifacts, clothes and jewellery are on display here.
Website (in Spanish)


Galerias Pacifico - Shopping Center
The Galerias Pacifico shopping center is a beautiful multi-level shopping center at the corner of Florida and Cordoba. The mall is quite upscale by Argentine standards having a number of beautiful murals at its center.
Website

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