Córdoba Avenue
Encyclopedia
Córdoba Avenue is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires
, Argentina
.
, inspired by the urban redevelopment works in Paris
at the hand of Baron Haussmann
, drew up master plans for major boulevards, running east to west, every six blocks. During the 1880s, Córdoba Avenue was included in the plan and widened. The Buenos Aires Metro
authority at the time, operated by the Spanish-Argentine concern CHADOPyF, built Line
largely under Córdoba Avenue during the 1930s. Following the popularization of the automobile in Argentina during the 1960s, a 1967 ordinance made the avenue a one-way thoroughfare, east to west (making Córdoba Avenue one of the major routes used by the city's evening commuters).
Avenue is the continuation of Cecilia Grierson Street in Puerto Madero
. Past this point, Córdoba Av. enters downtown Buenos Aires and passes along the northern end of the financial district
. Microsoft
's Latin American headquarters, opened in 2000, and the 42-story Alas building are located on this corner; the Alas building, built in the early 1950s by the administration of Juan Perón
for the Argentine Air Force
, was the tallest in Argentina until 1995. Past Leandro Alem Avenue
(the city's original shoreline), the avenue climbs around 15 m (50 ft) in a block-long segment known as "el bajo" - an incline where the riverfront once was. The Lancaster Hotel, located at the top of the incline, is where writer Graham Greene
stayed in Buenos Aires while writing his celebrated mystery, The Honorary Consul
.
The avenue crosses pedestrianized Florida Street
a few blocks on. The southeast corner of this intersection is known for the Galerías Pacífico
shopping arcade, housed in ornate structure occupying a city block and built in 1889 as the Buenos Aires affiliate of Paris' renowned Bon Marché. The eclectic Beaux-Arts structure is complemented by the Naval Officers' Association building, on the intersection's northeast corner; adjacent to the latter building is Harrods Buenos Aires
, currently undergoing renovations. Writer Jorge Luis Borges
frequented the Café St. James nearby (at Córdoba and Maipú), where he held his lectures on English literature
during the 1950s and 1960s. One block west is the eclecticist Bencich Building, known for its tapered red cupola. Buenos Aires' Nueve de Julio Avenue (one of the world's widest) was extended northwards past Córdoba Avenue in the 1950s, and the intersection of the two avenues was graced by the placement of two fountains originally located at the Plaza de Mayo
. Italian automaker FIAT
opened the Mirafiori Tower, its Argentine headquarters, at this intersection in 1964.
Its intersection with Libertad Street (one block past Nueve de Julio) is distinguished by Plaza Lavalle, the Cervantes Theatre
and the Libertad Street Temple
, the most important synagogue
in Buenos Aires (home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America). Further west, the avenue passes by the Water Company Palace
, an ornate water pumping station completed in 1894; the effect of rainfall on the building's porcelain
tile exterior is an attraction to many, in itself. The Neo-classical Sáenz Peña Teachers' School is across the avenue. Córdoba Avenue is home to a concentration of University of Buenos Aires
schools, as well. The School of Medicine and its Clinical Hospital are across the avenue from the School of Economics, and all are a block east of the Neo-gothic National Music Conservatory
. Entering the historic Jewish district of Buenos Aires, the avenue's intersection with Pasteur Street lies one block north of the Jewish Argentine Mutual Association
, whose original building was destroyed in an as-yet unsolved 1994 terrorist attack (the worst ever in Argentine history).
The 8 km (5 mi) avenue demarcates a number of Buenos Aires' boroughs. At its outset, it separates Retiro
to the north from San Nicolás
and, further west, from Balvanera
. It then separates Balvanera from Recoleta
, to the north and, further west, Palermo
from Almagro
and Villa Crespo
(both to Palermo's south). Entering Villa Crespo, the avenue passes under Reconquista Bridge, an overpass opened in 1969 to facilitate traffic along Juan B. Justo
Avenue. Córdoba Avenue's Villa Crespo section is known for its many apparel and footwear stores. The avenue ends as such at Federico Lacroze Avenue, though geographically it continues as Giribone Street for another eight blocks, extending well into the Chacarita borough.
Avenida Córdoba
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
History
Mayor Torcuato de AlvearTorcuato de Alvear
Torcuato de Alvear y Saenz de la Quintanilla was a 19th century Argentine conservative politician. He was the son of soldier and statesman Carlos María de Alvear and father of Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, president of Argentina from 1922 to 1928.In 1880 Buenos Aires was declared the capital city...
, inspired by the urban redevelopment works in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the hand of Baron Haussmann
Baron Haussmann
Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commonly known as Baron Haussmann , was a French civic planner whose name is associated with the rebuilding of Paris...
, drew up master plans for major boulevards, running east to west, every six blocks. During the 1880s, Córdoba Avenue was included in the plan and widened. The Buenos Aires Metro
Buenos Aires Metro
The Buenos Aires Metro , locally known as Subte is a mass-transit system that serves the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first station of this network opened in 1913, the first of its kind in South America, the Southern Hemisphere and the entire Spanish-speaking world...
authority at the time, operated by the Spanish-Argentine concern CHADOPyF, built Line
Line D (Buenos Aires)
Line D of the Buenos Aires Metro runs from Catedral to Congreso de Tucumán. The D Line opened on 3 June 1937 and has been expanded to the north several times. The line is currently 10.41 km long and runs approximately parallel to the city's coastline....
Overview
The avenue's outset at Eduardo MaderoEduardo Madero
Eduardo Madero was an Argentine merchant, banker and developer.-Life and times:Eduardo Madero was born in Buenos Aires, in 1823, to a family of farmers. A nephew of publisher Florencio Varela, his uncle's enmity with the Governor of Buenos Aires Province, Juan Manuel de Rosas, led Madero to...
Avenue is the continuation of Cecilia Grierson Street in Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning community as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, is a barrio of the Argentine capital at Buenos Aires CBD, occupying a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank and representing the latest architectural trends in the city of Buenos...
. Past this point, Córdoba Av. enters downtown Buenos Aires and passes along the northern end of the financial district
San Nicolás, Buenos Aires
San Nicolás is one of the neighbourhoods of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, sharing most of the city and national government structure with neighboring Montserrat and home to much of Buenos Aires' financial sector...
. Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's Latin American headquarters, opened in 2000, and the 42-story Alas building are located on this corner; the Alas building, built in the early 1950s by the administration of Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
for the Argentine Air Force
Argentine Air Force
The Argentine Air Force is the national aviation branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. , it had 14,606 military and 6,854 civilian staff.-History:...
, was the tallest in Argentina until 1995. Past Leandro Alem Avenue
Leandro Alem Avenue
Avenida Leandro N. Alem is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a commercial nerve center of the city's San Nicolás and Retiro districs.-Overview:...
(the city's original shoreline), the avenue climbs around 15 m (50 ft) in a block-long segment known as "el bajo" - an incline where the riverfront once was. The Lancaster Hotel, located at the top of the incline, is where writer Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
stayed in Buenos Aires while writing his celebrated mystery, The Honorary Consul
The Honorary Consul
The Honorary Consul is a British thriller novel by Graham Greene, published in 1973. It was one of the author's favourite works.- Plot summary :...
.
Florida Street
Florida Street is an elegant shopping street in Downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. A pedestrian street since 1971, some stretches have been pedestrianized since 1913....
a few blocks on. The southeast corner of this intersection is known for the Galerías Pacífico
Galerías Pacífico
Galerías Pacífico is a shopping centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located at the intersection of Florida Street and Córdoba Avenue.-Overview:...
shopping arcade, housed in ornate structure occupying a city block and built in 1889 as the Buenos Aires affiliate of Paris' renowned Bon Marché. The eclectic Beaux-Arts structure is complemented by the Naval Officers' Association building, on the intersection's northeast corner; adjacent to the latter building is Harrods Buenos Aires
Harrods Buenos Aires
Harrods Buenos Aires is a historic commercial building in Buenos Aires, Argentina, formerly a branch of Harrods of London.- History :Established in 1914 on 877 Florida Street as the only overseas branch of the renowned Harrods of London, the department store was expanded in 1920, and grew to occupy...
, currently undergoing renovations. Writer Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
frequented the Café St. James nearby (at Córdoba and Maipú), where he held his lectures on English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
during the 1950s and 1960s. One block west is the eclecticist Bencich Building, known for its tapered red cupola. Buenos Aires' Nueve de Julio Avenue (one of the world's widest) was extended northwards past Córdoba Avenue in the 1950s, and the intersection of the two avenues was graced by the placement of two fountains originally located at the Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets....
. Italian automaker FIAT
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
opened the Mirafiori Tower, its Argentine headquarters, at this intersection in 1964.
Its intersection with Libertad Street (one block past Nueve de Julio) is distinguished by Plaza Lavalle, the Cervantes Theatre
Cervantes Theatre (Buenos Aires)
The Cervantes National Theatre in Buenos Aires is the national stage and comedy theatre of Argentina.-History:The Cervantes Theatre of Buenos Aires owes its existence, in part, to the 1897 relocation to Argentina of Spanish theatre producer María Guerrero and her company, who popularized...
and the Libertad Street Temple
Templo Libertad
The Templo Libertad is a synagogue situated in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Situated on Libertad street, near the famous Teatro Colón, the synagogue is home to the Congregación Israelita de la República de Argentina and houses a Jewish history museum....
, the most important synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in Buenos Aires (home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America). Further west, the avenue passes by the Water Company Palace
The Water Company Palace
The Palace of Flowing Waters is an architecturally significant water pumping station in Buenos Aires, Argentina.-Overview:...
, an ornate water pumping station completed in 1894; the effect of rainfall on the building's porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
tile exterior is an attraction to many, in itself. The Neo-classical Sáenz Peña Teachers' School is across the avenue. Córdoba Avenue is home to a concentration of University of Buenos Aires
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...
schools, as well. The School of Medicine and its Clinical Hospital are across the avenue from the School of Economics, and all are a block east of the Neo-gothic National Music Conservatory
Conservatorio Nacional Superior de Música (Argentina)
The Conservatorio Nacional Superior de Música is a music school in Buenos Aires, and the leading conservatory in Argentina.The Conservatorio Nacional was founded, among others, by Argentine musician Carlos López Buchardo on July 7, 1924, during the presidency of Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear...
. Entering the historic Jewish district of Buenos Aires, the avenue's intersection with Pasteur Street lies one block north of the Jewish Argentine Mutual Association
Amia
Amia, AMIA, or AMiA can refer to:*American Medical Informatics Association*Bowfin, a fish genus*Anglican Mission in the Americas*Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, a Jewish community center located in Buenos Aires, Argentina...
, whose original building was destroyed in an as-yet unsolved 1994 terrorist attack (the worst ever in Argentine history).
The 8 km (5 mi) avenue demarcates a number of Buenos Aires' boroughs. At its outset, it separates Retiro
Retiro, Buenos Aires
Retiro is a barrio in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the northeast end of the city, Retiro is bordered on the south by the Puerto Madero and San Nicolás wards, and on the west by the Recoleta ward.-Urban character:...
to the north from San Nicolás
San Nicolás, Buenos Aires
San Nicolás is one of the neighbourhoods of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, sharing most of the city and national government structure with neighboring Montserrat and home to much of Buenos Aires' financial sector...
and, further west, from Balvanera
Balvanera
Balvanera is a neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.-Origin of Name and Alternative Names:The official name, Balvanera, is the name of the parroquia centered around the church of Nuestra Señora de Balvanera, erected in 1831.The zone around Corrientes avenue is known as Once after Plaza Once de...
. It then separates Balvanera from Recoleta
Recoleta
Recoleta is a downtown residential neighborhood in the city of Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina; it is an area of great historical and architectural interest, due, particularly to the Recoleta Cemetery located there...
, to the north and, further west, Palermo
Palermo, Buenos Aires
Palermo is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is located in the northeast of the city, bordering the barrios of Belgrano to the north, Almagro and Recoleta to the south, Villa Crespo and Colegiales to the west and the Río de la Plata river to the east. With a total...
from Almagro
Almagro, Buenos Aires
Almagro is a mostly middle-class barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.The neighbourhood is delimited by La Plata avenue and Río de Janeiro street to the west, Independencia avenue to the south, Sánchez de Bustamante, Sánchez de Loria and Gallo streets to the east, and Córdoba/Estado de Israel avenues...
and Villa Crespo
Villa Crespo
Villa Crespo is a middle-class neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the geographical centre of the city. It had a population of 83,646 people in 2001, and thus population density of 23,235 inhabitants/km²....
(both to Palermo's south). Entering Villa Crespo, the avenue passes under Reconquista Bridge, an overpass opened in 1969 to facilitate traffic along Juan B. Justo
Juan B. Justo
Juan Bautista Justo was an Argentine physician, journalist, politician, and writer. After finishing medical school he joined the Unión Cívica Radical, later participating in the foundation of the Socialist Party in 1896, of which he was chief director until his death...
Avenue. Córdoba Avenue's Villa Crespo section is known for its many apparel and footwear stores. The avenue ends as such at Federico Lacroze Avenue, though geographically it continues as Giribone Street for another eight blocks, extending well into the Chacarita borough.